I 

UjSIIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 


Mrs.  SARAH  P.  WALSWORTH. 

Received  October,  1894. 
^Accessions  No,\T^/JZrS^ .      Class  No. 


chive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 
IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


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http://www.archive.org/details/berthamemoirofroOOnewyrich 


Paonied-  b  y  CotviiL  Smith  .  S  A. . 


iingru-ved  by  Fcei''  Halpin. 


JJAMTEg     AoMATLBAM: 


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ROBERT  HALDANE, 


AND 


ti 


'  JAMES  ALEXANDER  HALDANE; 


y^^Sm,.^ 


1 


SKETCHES  OF  THEIR  FRIENDS, 

AND   OF 

THE  PROGRESS  OF  RELIGION  IN  SCOTLAND 

AND 

ON  THE  CONTINENT  OF  EUROPE, 

IN 

THE  FORMER  HALF  OP  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 

ftfiriVlRSITY] 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE 
AMERICAN    TRACT    SOCIETY, 

150  NASSAU-STREET,  NEW  YORK. 


syrz- 


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This  volume  is  not  a  mere  abridgment  of  the 
Memoirs  of  Messrs.  Robert  and  James  Alexander 
Haldane,  by  Alexander  Haldane,  Esq.,  of  London, 
son  of  the  last-named  gentleman,  but  a  work  written 
for  the  American  Tract  Society.  Its  facts  have  been 
carefully  drawn  from  Mr.  Haldane's  volume,  and  from 
the  memoirs  of  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Anderson,  Camp- 
bell, Ewing,  Hill,  and  Simeon,  Drs.  Merle  d'Aubign6 
and  Waugh,  and  Joseph  Hardcastle,  Esq.,  all  of  Eu- 
rope, and  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  M.  Mason  and  Rev.  M. 
Bruen  of  the  United  States.  It  is  hoped  the  work 
may  tend  to  increase  the  piety  and  zeal  of  Chris- 
tians, and  to  prove  to  others  that  evangelical  religion 
lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  that  is  useful  and  happy. 

J.  B. 

Philadelphia,  1858. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ROBERT  AND  JAMES  A.HALDANE— FROM  THEIR  BIRTH 

TO  THE  MARRIAGE  AND  SETTLEMENT  OF  ROBERT. 

1764-1794. 

Importance  of  character — Ancestry  of  the  Haldanes — Maternal  piety 
— State  of  domestic  piety  in  Scotland — Education  of  Robert  and 
James  Haldane — Early  intellectual  development — ^Tour  with 
Drs.  Adam  and  Macknight — Decline  of  the  piety  of  Robert  and 
James — Influence  of  a  mother's  prayers — Robert  Haldane  in  the 
royal  navy — Leaves  it — Marries — Settlement  and  engagements 
at  Airthrey, - 11 

.     CHAPTER  II. 

EVENTS  CONNECTED  WITH  JAMES  HALDANE  FROM 
HIS  GOING  TO  SEA  IN  THE  SERVICE  OF  THE  EAST 
INDIA  COMPANY  TILL  HIS  CONVERSION. 

1785-1795. 

James  Haldane  joins  the  Duke  of  Montrose — Religious  impressions 
— Conviviality  of  the  Times — Dangers — Duel — The  contrast — 
Courage — Marriage — Leaves  the  sea — Begins  to  study  the  Bible 
— Mental  conflict — Conversion, 30 

CHAPTER  III. 

EVENTS  CONNECTED  WITH  ROBERT  HALDANE  FROM 
HIS  CONVERSION  TO  THE  RELINQUISHMENT  OF 
HIS  PROPOSED  MISSION  TO  INDIA. 

1794-1798. 

Effects  of  the  French  Revolution  on  Robert  Haldane' s  mind — Deliver- 
ance from  danger — Conferences  with  Christian  ministers— Char- 
acter of  his  conversion — Studies  the  evidences  of  Christianity — 
Conversation  with  a  pious  mason — Plans  a  mission  to  India — 
His  intended  associates — Proposal  to  sell  Airthrey — Mr.  Swing's 


o  CONTENTS. 

account — Con-espondence  with  the  East  India  Company,  and  the 
Government— Compelled  to  abandon  the  foreign  mission — Mis- 
sionary spirit  in  Scotland — Anecdotes,  -- - 52 

CHAPTER  IV. 

OCCURRENCES  IN  THE  LIFE  OF  JAMES  HALDANE. 
1795-1797. 
Introduction  to  Messrs.  Campbell  and  Aikman — State  of  religion  in 
Scotland  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century — Usefulness  of 
Rev.  Dr.  Jamieson — Mr.  James  Haldane's  tour  with  the  Rev. 
Charles  Simeon — Their  usefulness  to  Mr.  Stewart — Accident  to 
Mr.  Simeon — Return  to  Edinburgh — Farewell — Anecdote — Dis- 
tribution of  tracts— Lay  preaching  of  Mr.  Haldane  and  Mr.  Aik- 
man at  Gilmerton — Dr.  Charles  Stuart — Great  usefulness — Tour 
to  the  north  of  Scotland — Occurrence  at  Aberdeen — Banff  and  its 
neighborhood — Usefulness — Orkney  Islands — Conversion  of  an 
old  man  of  ninety-two — Caithness — Account  given  by  Mrs. 

.  McNeil — Prayer-meetings  in  Sutherland — Mr.  Haldane' s  health — 
Review  of  the  tour, - - 65 

CHAPTER  Y. 

INCIDENTS  CONNECTED  WITH  MESSRS.  ROBERT  AND 
JAMES  HALDANE  TILL  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  CIR- 
CUS CHURCH  IN  EDINBURGH. 

1797,   1798. 

Results  of  the  preaching  tour  of  1797 — Lay  preaching — Opinions  of 
Mr.  Cowie  and  others — Sermon  by  Mr.  Ewing — Preparations  for 
another  tour — Decease  of  the  Countess  of  Leven — Magisterial  op- 
position to  itinerant  preaching— Conversion  of  Mr.  Watson — 
Meeting  with  Rowland  Hill — Opening  of  the  circus  for  preach- 
ing— Robert  Haldane's  sale  of  Airthrey — Mr.  Hill's  preaching 
tours — His  last  Sabbath  in  Edinburgh — Returns  to  England — 
Sketch  of  his  life  and  character, - 94 

CHAPTER  YI. 

FROM  THE  ADOPTION  OF  THE  PLAN  OF  A  SEMINARY 
FOR   PREACHERS,   TO    MR.   JAMES    HALDANE'S    RE- 
TURN FROM  HIS  SECOND  TOUR  IN  THE  NORTH. 
1799. 

Robert  Haldane  plans  a  seminary  for  preachers— Proposes  to  erect 
houses  of  worship  in  the  chief  towns  of  Scotland— Ordination  of 


CONTENTS.  t 

James  Haldane  over  the  circus  church— Usefulness  of  his  minis- 
try— Ministerial  education  commenced — Rev.  James  Kennedy 

Rev.  George  Cowie — Robert  Haldane' s  visit  to  Glasgow — His 
great  liberality — Labors  and  self-denial  of  James  Haldane — 
Second  tour  to  the  north — Visits  Shetland — Testimony  of  Dr. 
Knox — Return  to  Edinburgh — Review  of  the  tour, 114 

CHAPTER  YII. 

FROM  THE  COMMENCEMENT  OF  ROBERT  HALDANE'S 
LITERARY  LABORS,  TO  THE  DEATH  OP^AMES  HAL- 
DANE'S  DAUGHTER  CATHERINE. 
1799-1802. 

Opposition  to  evangelical  efforts — Robert  Haldane' s  first  publication 
from  the  press — Mr.  Pitt's  effort  to  abridge  religious  freedom — 
James  Haldane 's  fourth  preaching  campaign,  in  company  with 
Mr.  Campbell — Arrested  and  sent  to  the  Sheriff — Triumph  and 
its  results — Amusing  scene  in  an  inn  kitchen — Labors  of  James 
Haldane — His  discharge  of  domestic  duties — Efforts  of  Robert 
Haldane — Andrew  Fuller's  visit  to  Scotland— Divie  Bethune — 
Robert  Haldane  commences  field-preaching — His  sermon  at  Stil- 
ton— Building  of  the  Edinburgh  Tabernacle — Anecdotes — Labors 
of  Mr.  Morrison — James  Haldane  at  Dumfries  and  its  neighbor- 
hood— Happy  success — Mr.  Buchanan — Illness  and  death  of  his 
daughter  Catherine — James  Haldane  at  home — Rev.  Dr.  Ward- 
law, 134 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

JAMES  HALDANE'S  ITINERANCIES  AND  OTHER  LA- 
BORS, FROM  1802  TO    1805. 

James  Haldane' s  visit  to  Buxton — Review  of  past  labors — Revival 
at  Breadalbane — Persecution — Tour  from  Edinburgh  to  the  Ork- 
ney Islands — Narrative  of  Mr.  Lachlan  Mackintosh — Cold  and 
storm — Journey  to  Berwick  and  the  north  of  England — Mr.  Ful- 
ler's second  journey  to  Scotland — Robert  Haldane' s  Seminaries — 
His  interest  in  the  continent  of  Europe — James  Haldane' s  ser- 
mon on  the  death  of  Lord  Camelford — ^Tour  of  James  Haldane 
and  Mr.  Campbell  to  the  north — Statement  of  Mr.  Grant — Re- 
turn to  Edinburgh — Increase  of  evangelical  laborers  in  Scot- 
land,  162 


o  CONTENTS. 

,  CHAPTER  15. 

FROM  THE  CHANGES  AS  TO  CHURCH  ORDER,  TO  THE 
DEATH  OF  MRS.  JAMES  HALDANE. 

1808-1819. 

Changes  as  to  ecclesiastical  discipline — Striking  address  by  Mr. 
James  Haldane — Robert  Haldane's  purchase  of  Auchingray — 
Letter  to  Mr.  Campbell — His  provision  for  public  worship — • 
Writes  his  work  on  the  Evidences  of  Christianity — The  apostle 
Paul  and  his  cloak  at  Troas — Letter  from  Mr.  Hardcastle  on 
the  Evidences — Mr.  Hardcastle' s  death  and  character — Letter 
from  Rowland  Hill — James  Haldane's  continued  zealous  labors — 
Usefulness  at  Portobello — Scene  at  North  Berwick — Its  results — 
His  visit  to  Buxton  and  Harrogate,  and  successful  labors — ^A 
rector  from  Anglesea — Discussion  with  Archbishop  Everard — 
Sickness  and  death  of  Mrs.  James  Haldane, 178 

CHAPTER  X. 

MR.  ROBERT  HALDANE'S  VISIT    TO    THE   CONTINENT 
OF  EUROPE. 

1816-1817. 

Mr.  Haldane's  visit  to  Paris — Departure  for  Geneva — Extracts  of 
letters  to  the  Rev.  E.  Bickersteth — Glory  of  Geneva  in  the  six- 
teenth century — Extract  from  Dr.  Merle  d'Aubigne — Departure 
from  Geneva,  and  return  to  it — Its  moral  state  in  1816 — Prepar- 
atory events  to  his  labors — Successful  labors — Opposition — Em- 
ployment of  the  press — Pastor  Charles  Rieu — Christian  spirit  of 
Robert  Haldane — Dr.  Malan's  conversion — Dr.  J.  M.  Mason  and 
Mr.  Bruen — Dr.  Malan's  extraordinary  sermon — Great  excite- 
ment— Conversion  of  many  of  the  students — Departure  of  Rob- 
ert Haldane  from  Geneva — Results  of  his  labors, 200 

CHAPTER  XI. 

FROM  THE  JOURNEY  OF  ROBERT  HALDANE  TO  MON- 
TAUBAN,  TO  THE  DECEASE  OF  SEVERAL  OLD 
FRIENDS. 

1817-1833. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Haldane  pass  through  Lyons  to  Montauban — M.  De 
Rapin — ^Exposition  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans — Persecution  at 
Montauban — M.  Gauchon— Conversion  of  a  pastor — Opposition 


CONTENTS.  9 

of  a  consistory — Progress  of  evangelization — Domestic  trials — 
Testimonies  to  Mr.  Haldane's  usefulness— Eeturn  to  Scotland — 
Kesumes  his  former  labors — James  Haldane's  extensive  useful- 
ness— Scripture  language  in  preaching — ^His  domestic  trials  and 
character — Robert  Haldane's  employments — James  Haldane's 
sympathy  and  wisdom — Dissension  in  a  church — Death  of  James 
Haldane,  Jr. ,  Dr.  Stewart,  William  Howels,  and  Rowland  Hill,  227 

CHAPTER  XII. 

FROM  THE  PUBLICATION  OP  THE  SECOND  EDITION 
OF  ROBERT  HALDANE'S  EVIDENCES  OF  CHRISTI- 
ANITY, TILL  HIS  DEATH. 

1834-1842.  * 

Robert  Haldane's  publication  of  a  second  edition  of  his  Evidences  of 
Christianity — Infidel  writers — David  Hume's  death-bed — Publi- 
cation of  his  Exposition  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans — Visit  of 
James  Haldane  to  his  brother — Domestic  habits  of  Robert  Hal- 
dane— Preaching  and  public  services — Final  return  to  Edinburgh 
— Last  sickness — Last  conversation  with  Mrs.  Haldane — Death — 
Portrait  of  James  Haldane — Testimonies  of  public  respect — Death 
of  his  widow, 245 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

THE   LATER  YEARS    OF    JAMES    HALDANE   TILL    HIS 
DECEASE. 
1842-1851. 

Continued  labors — ^Anecdote — Visit  to  London  and  Buxton — Death 
of  his  eldest  daughter — Intercourse  with  home  missionaries — 
Private  life — Letter  to  Mr.  Hardcastle — ^Labors  as  an  octogena- 
rian— Practice  of  fasting — Residence  and  labors  at  La  Mancha — 
Jubilee  of  his  pastorate — Decline  of  his  physical  powers — Violent 
attack  of  the  gout — Last  prayer  in  the  family — Dying  sayings — 
Decease — Fimeral — ^Tokens  of  public  respect — Qualifications  as 
an  itinerant  preacher — Conclusion, 259 


1* 


'i  THE 

HALDANES  AND  THEIR  FRIENDS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ROBERT  AND  JAMES  A.  HALDANE— FROM  THEIR 
BIRTH  TO  THE  MARRIAGE  AND  SETTLEMENT 
OF  ROBERT. 

1764  TO  1794. 

It  has  been  weH  remarked  of  the  gentlemen  whose 
memoirs  we  now  attempt  to  narrate,  that  "  our  correct 
estimate  of  men  is  based  on  what  they  are,  and  not  on 
the  wealth  or  rank  of  their  fathers.  It  is  of  small 
moment  whether  they  can  trace  their  descent  from  a 
line  of  beggars  or  a  line  of  kings,  from  the  great  or 
the  small,  the  famous  or  the  obscure,  the  noble  or  the 
serf — whether  their  blood  be  a  ground  of  boasting,  or 
only  serves  to  deepen  their  blush ;  for,  ultimately,  they 
all  terminate  in  the  same  centre,  as  they  originally 
sprang  from  the  same  source.  Rich  and  poor,  high 
and  low,  the  most  mighty  and  the  most  abject,  the 
most  honored  and  the  most  despised,  may,  after  the 
manner  and  on  the  authority  of  Scripture,  trace  their 
genealogy  to  Adam,  and  through  Adam  to  God.    The 


12  THE  HALDANES. 

peasant's  does  not  terminate  lower,  an^  the  king's 
does  not  rise  higher  than  that." 

The  ancestry  of  the  Haldanes  can  be  traced  up  to 
a  period  about  a  thousand  years  ago.  It  appears 
that  in  the  great  contest  between  Rome  and  Scotland 
on  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures,  in  1526,  the  Hal- 
danes pursued  a  consistent  course  in  the  cause  of  Prot- 
estant freedom,  and  one  or  two  of  them  during  that 
century  fell  victims  to  their  zeal.  Of  another  of  them, 
who  died  in  1757,  an  old  tenant  of  the  family  estate, 
who  lived  to  be  more  than  a  hundred  years  of  age, 
used  to  relate  that,  as  trafficking  in  goods  on  the 
Lord's  day  had  then  become  prevalent  in  Scotland,  in 
consequence  of  the  itinerant  packmen  bringing  their 
wares  for  sale  to  the  church  doors,  the  Baron  of 
Gleneagles,  as  chief  magistrate  in  the  neighborhood, 
issued  an  order  prohibiting  the  practice ;  and  when 
on  going  to  the  church  he  found  the  order  was  dis- 
obeyed, the  packmen  spreading  out  their  goods  for 
sale,  he  scattered  them  in  an  instant,  and  threw  their 
merchandise  into  an  adjoining  lake.  Never  since  that 
day  has  Sunday-trading  been  attempted  in  that  neigh- 
borhood. 

Robert  Haldane  was  born  on  the  twenty-eighth 
of  February,  1764,  in  Cavendish  square,  London,  and 
his  younger  brother  was  born  at  Dundee,  on  the  four- 
teenth of  July,  1768,  a  few  days  after  the  decease  of 
their  father.  Their  father  was  a  sea-captain,  exceed- 
ingly careful  of  the  moral  discipline  and  the  personal 
manners  of  those  who  sailed  with  him.  When  asked 
a  very  short  time  before  his  death  as  to  his  hopes  for 


THEIR  EARLY  LIFE.  13 

eternity,  he  calmly  replied,  "  I  have  full  confidence  in 
Jesus." 

Mrs.  Haldane,  the  mother  of  our  friends,  herself 
the  child  of  pious  parents,  descendants  of  strenuous 
supporters  of  the  Protestant  faith,  was   a  decided 
Christian.     "  She  lived  very  near  to  God,"  said  her 
eldest  son,   "  and  much  grace  was   given   to  her^" 
When  left  a  widow,  her  chief  concern  was  to  bring 
up  her  children  "in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of 
the  Lord."    From  their  infancy  she  labored  to  instil 
into  their  minds  a  sense  of  the  importance  of  eternity ; 
particularly  impressing  upon  them  the  necessity  of 
prayer,  and  teaching  them  to  commit  to  memory  and 
to  understand  portions  of  the  Shorter  Catechism,  and 
of  Scripture.     "  Her  instructions,"  said  her  youngest 
son,  "  were  so  far  useful,  that  even  when  she  was  not 
present  I  made  conscience  of  prayer.     What  she  said 
concerning  sin  and  punishment  also  produced  a  con- 
siderable impression  on  my  mind."     This  excellent 
woman  died  in  1774,  when  her  son  Robert  was  ten, 
and  James  six  years  old.     Her  medical  attendant, 
although  himself  an  avowed  unbeliever,  emphatically 
declared  that  such  a  deathbed  was  enough  to  make 
one  in  love  with  death. 

After  the  death  of  her  daughter.  Lady  Lundie,  the 
maternal  grandmother  of  the  young  Haldanes,  took 
them  under  her  fostering  care.  In  early  life  she  had 
been  distinguished  for  her  beauty,  both  in  Scotland 
and  in  Bath,  then  at  the  height  of  its  fame  as  the  me- 
tropolis of  fashion ;  but  from  such  scenes  of  excite- 
ment she  had  long  ago  withdrawn,  and  now,  in  the 


14  THE  HALDANES. 

domestic  circle  of  her  remaining  children  and  grand- 
children, she  devoted  herself  to  their  comfort  and 
usefulness.  The  boys  were  far  better  educated  than 
was  then  customary,  even  in  the  more  respectable 
classes  of  society ;  at  home  having  the  benefit  of  a 
clerical  instructor,  while  the  neighboring  city  of  Dun- 
dee furnished  them  with  the  instructions  of  a  good 
grammar-school,  and  the  stimulus  of  competition. 

The  state  of  religion  in  the  families  of  true  Chris* 
tians  in  Scotland  at  that  period  of  general  declension, 
presented  a  striking  contrast  to  that  of  their  neigh- 
bors. The  late  Rev.  John  Campbell,  afterwards  the 
celebrated  African  missionary  traveller,  and  of  whom 
the  reader  will  learn  more  hereafter  as  the  friend  and 
companion  of  the  Messrs.  Haldane,  gave,  in  his  seven- 
ty-fourth year,  a  very  graphic  and  characteristic  ac- 
count of  one  of  these  families,  that  of  his  uncle,  with 
whom  he  resided.  The  scene  described  is  that  of  a 
Sabbath  evening,  after  the  family  had  attended  the 
ministry  of  an  excellent  clergyman  named  Baine* 
He  says, 

"  Immediately  after  tea,  the  whole  family  were 
assembled  in  uncle's  room,  namely,  we  three  brothers, 
the  female  servant,  and  an  apprentice.  Each  was 
asked  to  tell  the  texts,  and  what  they  remembered  of 
the  sermons  they  had  heard  during  the  day ;  then  a 
third  part  of  the  questions  in  the  Shorter  Catechism 
were  asked,  to  which  we  repeated  the  answers  in  rota- 
tion. He  then  took  one  of  the  questions,  as  it  came 
in  course,  from  which,  off-hand,  he  asked  us  a  number 
of  questions,  for  the  trial  of  our  knowledge  and  in- 


THEIR  EARLY  LIFE.  15 

forming  our  judgments.  The  service  was  concluded' 
by  singing  two  verses  of  a  psalm,  and  uncle  offering 
a  most  pious  prayer  for  a  blessing  on  the  evening 
exercises.  From  the  variety  that  we  attended  to,  we 
did  not  weary  in  the  service ;  indeed,  I  do  not  recol- 
lect one  of  us  ever  yawning  during  it.  This  way  of 
keeping  the  Sabbath  deeply  impressed  us  with  its 
sanctity.  If  I  heard  a  boy  whistle,  or  overheard  the 
sound  of  an  instrument  of  music  from  a  house,  I  was 
actually  shocked.  We  were  never  permitted  to  cross 
the  threshold  of  the  door  on  the  Lord's  day,  except 
when  going  to  worship.  Some  might  conclude  from 
all  this  that  we  must  have  been  a  gloomy,  morose 
family,  but  the  fact  was  the  reverse.  Uncle  was  a 
cheerful  man,  possessed  peace  of  mind,  and  the  pros- 
pect of  a  happy  eternity.  I  once  heard  him  say, 
'  When  I  was  a  bachelor,  and  the  men  in  the  winter- 
time used  to  come  to  the  kitchen  fire  at  twilight  to 
warm  themselves  for  half  an  hour  before  lighting  can- 
dles, I  used  to  retire  to  my  room  to  hold  a  little  inter- 
course with  God  ;  for  twenty  years  I  seized  that  half- 
hour's  retirement  with  as  much  eagerness  as  ever 
hungry  man  did  his  dish  of  victuals.'  " 

After  the  death  of  this  venerable  uncle,  and  his 
three  nephews  had  all  made  a  profession  of  religion, 
the  devotions  of  the  family  were  continued,  each  of 
the  two  elder  brothers  taking  his  turn  in  leading  in 
prayer.  Mr.  Campbell's  good  old  aunt  used  to  tell 
with  great  delight  the  history  of  his  first  offer  to  take 
his  turn  at  family  worship.  His  brothers  happened 
one  night  to  be  both  from  home,  and  when  the  hour 


16  THE  HALDANES. 

of  prayer  came,  he  modestly  said,  "  Aunty,  if  you  have 
no  objection,  I  will  take  the  book  and  make  prayers." 
Aunty  was  delighted  with  the  proposal,  and  went  to 
the  kitchen  to  tell  the  servant,  an  eminently  pious 
woman,  who  had  been  long  in  the  family,  and  who 
was  very  fond  of  John.  The  good  news  was  almost 
too  much  for  the  worthy  domestic,  who  wept  and 
laughed  at  the  same  time,  declaring  that  she  could 
not  stay  away,  but  knew  not  how  to  conduct  herself 
through  the  exercise,  which,  however,  was  solemn  and 
impressive. 

The  importance  and  deeply  interesting  character 
of  the  subject  may  well  excuse  the  introduction  of  a 
paragraph  or  two  from  the  pen  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hay, 
one  of  the  biographers  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Waugh ;  espe- 
cially as  it  shows  us  the  religious  engagements  of  a 
Scottish  week-day  at  that  time.  "  An  upland  farm, 
of  the  common  average  size,  extended  to  about  four 
or  five  hundred  acres,  partly  arable  and  partly  pas- 
toral, and  usually  employed  three  or  four  ploughs; 
and  the  master's  household,  exclusive  of  his  own  fam- 
ily, consisted  of  six  or  seven  unmarried  servants,  male 
and  female.  The  married  servants,  namely,  a  head- 
shepherd,  and  a  hind  or  two,  as  the  married  plough- 
men were  termed,  occupied  cottages  apart;  as  did 
also  the  cotters,  who  were  rather  a  sort  of  farm  retain- 
ers than  servants,  being  bound  only  to  give  the  mas- 
ter, in  lieu  of  rent,  their  services  in  hay-time  and 
harvest,  and  at  other  stated  periods.  The  whole, 
however,  especially  in  remote  situations,  formed  a 
sort  of  little  independent  community  in  themselves, 


THEIR  EARLY  LIFE.  IT 

deriving  their  subsistence  almost  exclusively  from  tlie 
farm.  The  master's  household  alone  usually  amounted 
to  fifteen  or  twenty  souls ;  and  the  whole  population 
of  the  farm,  or  onstead,  to  double  or  treble  that  num- 
ber— maintained  with  much  frugality,  and  always  in- 
dustriously occupied,  though  not  oppressed  with  labor. 
At  ordinary  meals,  the  master,  or  good-man,  as  he  was 
termed,  took  his  seat  at  the  head  of  the  large  hall 
table,  the  mistress  sitting  on  his  right  hand,  the  chil- 
dren on  his  left,  the  men-servants  next  in  station,  and 
the  maid-servants  at  the  bottom — one  of  the  latter 
serving.  The  use  of  tea  was  then  unknown,  except 
in  the  houses  of  the  gentry.  Porridge,  made  of  oat- 
meal, was  the  constant  dish  at  breakfast  and  supper ; 
at  dinner,  broth  and  meat,  milk,  cheese,  and  butter. 
Twice  in  the  year,  exclusive  of  ordinary  occasions, 
there  was  a  farm-festival,  in  which  every  inhabitant 
of  the  place  partook;  namely,  the  kirn,  or  harvest- 
home,  at  the  close  of  autumn,  and  the  celebration  of 
the  new  year.  On  these  occasions,  an  abundant  feast 
of  baked  and  boiled  cheered  the  heart  of  the  humblest 
laborer  on  the  land. 

"  But  the  religious  order  of  the  family  was  the  dis- 
tinguishing trait.  The  whole  household  assembled 
in  the  hall,  or  kitchen,  in  the  morning  before  break- 
fast, for  family  worship,  and  in  the  evening  before 
supper.  The  good-man  of  course  led  their  devotions, 
every  one  having  his  Bible  in  his  hand.  This  was 
the  stated  course  even  in  seed-time  and  harvest.  Be- 
tween five  and  six  in  the  morning  was  the  hour  of 
prayer  in  these  busy  seasons."  - 


18  THE  HALDANES. 

In  1777,  it  was  determined  by  the  uncles  of  Rob- 
ert and  James  Haldane  to  place  them  at  the  High 
School  of  Edinburgh,  where  they  boarded  with  the 
rector,  the  celebrated  Dr.  Adam,  the  well-known  au- 
thor of  "  Roman  Antiquities,"  and  where  they  had  for 
contemporaries  several  boys  who  afterwards  became 
distinguished  in  the  fields  of  literature,  law,  and  poli- 
tics. There  were  also  two  youths  with  whom  they 
were  afterwards  connected  in  the  great  religious 
movement  of  Scotland.  One  of  these  was  John  Camp- 
bell, the  African  missionary  traveller  to  whom  we 
have  just  referred,  who  used,  in  his  usual  graphic 
style,  to  describe  the  time  when  he  first  saw  his  future 
friend  and  fellow-laborer  James  Haldane,  then  buoy- 
ant with  life  and  sport,  an  energetic  and  high-spirited 
boy,  always  foremost  in  the  race  of  frolic. 

In  his  boyhood,  it  was  for  several  years  the  desire 
of  Robert  to  prepare  himself  for  the  ministry  in  the 
church  of  Scotland,  and  at  Lundie-house,  the  resi- 
dence of  his  grandmother  and  uncles,  he  was  accus- 
tomed, on  every  Sunday,  to  address,  or,  as  it  may  be 
said,  to  preach  to  the  domestics  in  the  servants'  hall. 
By  many  this  might  be  considered  as  savoring  some- 
what of  boyish  sport,  but  he  himself  spoke  of  it  very 
differently,  even  at  nearly  the  close  of  his  life,  when 
he  used  to  say  that  from  the  time  he  was  nine  years 
old,  he  had  serious  views  and  feelings  as  to  the  things 
of  God.  It  was  also  the  frequent  custom  of  the  broth- 
ers, after  they  had  retired  to  their  nightly  rest,  to 
converse  together  as  to  the  things  to  which  their  de- 
parted mother  had  attached  so  much  importance ;  and 


THEIR  EARLY  LIFE.  19 

this  habit  was  no  doubt  greatly  beneficial  to  them, 
as  it  tended  to  cherish  in  their  hearts  early  religious 
impressions,  and  prepare  them  for  future  usefulness. 
But  sudden  changes  induced  Robert  for  the  present  to 
relinquish  all  thoughts  of  the  ministry,  and  to  enter 
the  navy;  so  that  in  1780,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  he 
joined  the  ship-of-war  Monarch  at  Portsmouth. 

During  the  years  1779  to  1783,  James  Haldane  pur- 
sued his  education  with  much  energy  and  application, 
but  blended  these  with  the  love  of  violent  sports  and 
dangerous  rambles  on  the  Salisbury  craigs.  On  one 
occasion,  Dr.  Adam  met  him  in  the  street  returning 
from  school,  and  proposed  to  give  him  the  pleasure  of 
accompanying  him  to  some  show  or  exhibition.  But 
observing  that  his  clothes  had  been  soiled  in  the 
boisterous  amusements  of  the  High-school  yards,  the 
rector  reproved  his  pupil,  and  said  that  he  did  not 
himself  choose  to  be  seen  in  such  company.  Before 
dismissing  the  boy,  however,  he  asked  what  was  his 
place  in  the  class,  and  being  told  that  he  was  Bux,  or 
first,  the  enthusiasm  of  the  learned  rector  was  kin- 
dled, and  affectionately  grasping  James'  hand,  he 
exclaimed,  "I  would  walk  with  you  although  you 
were  clothed  in  rags." 

In  1784,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  James  Haldane 
accompanied  Dr.  Adam  in  a  tour  through  a  large 
part  of  England.  They  travelled  on  horseback,  and 
the  commencement  of  their  journey  was  auspicious ; 
for,  stopping  at  Haddington,  the  well-known  resi- 
dence of  the  expositor  Dr.  John  Brown,  they  became 
acquainted  with  a  gentleman  of  the  name  of  Haldane, 


20  THE  HALDANES.     :    ,  i^^Z 

who,  althougli  an  entire  stranger,  was  so  mncli  pleased 
with  his  young  namesake,  that  he  presented  him  with 
a  very  handsome  and  well-bred  horse.  The  travellers 
were  accompanied  on  this  tour  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Mac- 
knight,  the  distinguished  commentator,  whose  practi- 
cal disregard  of  the  Lord's  day  made  a  deep  impres- 
sion on  the  mind  of  James  Haldane.  Although  Dr. 
Adam  was  not  eminent  for  piety,  he  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  reverence  the  outward  symbols  of  religion. 
But  when  they  had  crossed  the  border,  and  had  arriv- 
ed in  a  country  where  episcopacy  was  the  established 
religion.  Dr.  Macknight  persuaded  his  learned  friend 
that,  being  now  out  of  the  bounds  of  presbytery,  and 
under  no  obligation  to  countenance  prelatical  wor- 
ship, it  would  be  absurd  to  allow  the  plan  of  their 
journey  to  be  set  aside  by  the  intervention  of  the 
Sabbath.  This  doctrine  at  first  surprised,  but  became 
at  last  palatable  to  the  young  travellers.  For  a  time 
Dr.  Adam  felt  much  ashamed  when  they  entered  a 
town  or  village  while  the  church-going  bells  were 
calling  the  people  to  the  sanctuary.  But  these  feel- 
ings were  soon  overcome  by  the  commentator,  who 
was  then  really  giving  a  practical  warning  against 
the  errors  which  unhappily  pervade  his  writings. 
There  were  few  authors  whom  the  two  brothers  in 
after-life  regarded  as  less  reliable  expounders  of  the 
truths  of  the  gospel. 

James  Haldane  was  now  in  his  seventeenth  year, 
and  before  he  enters  on  his  engagement  in  the  East 
India  Company's  service  at  sea,  it  may  be  profitable 
to  inquire  into  his  spiritual  condition  and  prospects. 


THEIR  EARLY  LIFE.  21 

We  have  already  seen  that  for  a  long  time  after 
their  mother's  death  both  the  brothers  were  much 
affected  by  a  sense  of  the  importance  of  the  truths  she 
had  so  earnestly  inculcated,  and  the  death  of  a  belov- 
ed only  sister  had  tended  to  deepen  the  impression. 
When  they  first  arrived  in  Edinburgh,  they  were 
even  laughed  at  for  their  reverence  for  sacred  things. 
Robert's  inclination  for  the  ministry  has  been  already 
noticed,  and  two  elderly  ladies,  cousins  of  their  de- 
ceased paternal  grandmother,  often  lamented  that 
James  should  be  destined  for  so  rough  a  profession 
as  that  of  a  sailor.  They  wished  him  to  enter  the 
English  church,  to  which  they  themselves  belonged. 
But  alas,  whatever  indications  of  James'  seriousness 
have  thus  far  appeared,  his  own  manuscript  tells  a 
sad  tale.    He  says, 

"  Till  I  was  twelve  years  old  I  continued  to  pray, 
go  to  church,  and  read  my  Bible  or  other  good  books 
on  the  Sabbath,  but  it  was  merely  from  a  principle  of 
duty,  and  was  only  indeed  that  kind  of  'bodily  exer- 
cise which  profiteth  little.'  I  had  no  pleasure  in  any 
religious  duty,  but  conscience  retained  a  certain  influ- 
ence, and  made  me  afraid  to  give  them  up.  I  was 
well  pleased  if  any  slight  illness,  or  any  thing  occur- 
red which  seemed  a  sufficient  excuse  to  myself  for 
staying  at  home  on  the  Lord's  day.  Indeed,  I  hardly 
attended  to  one  word  when  at  church,  but  only  made 
a  form  of  joining  in  the  different  parts  of  the  worship. 
Sometimes,  however,  I  had  serious  thoughts;  occa- 
sionally, on  a  Sabbath  evening,  after  reading  the 
Scriptures  or  other  books,  I  felt  a  kind  of  flow  of  the 


22  THE  HALDANES. 

natural  passions,  and  had  a  good  deal  of  pleasure  in 
prayer.  This  always  puffed  me  up  with  thoughts  that 
I  was  very  good.  But  to  show  how  much  I  consid- 
ered prayer  as  a  task,  if  I  had  bowed  my  knee  in 
such  a  frame  as  this  before  supper,  I  considered  it 
unnecessary  to  pray  again  when  I  went  to  bed. 

"About  that  time  that  text,  'Seest  thou  a  man 
wise  in  his  own  conceit?  there  is  more  hope  of  a  fool 
than  of  him,'  Pro  v.  26 :  12,  struck  me  a  good  deal.  I 
had  just  been  thinking  that  I  was  in  the  right  road 
to  heaven,  but  that  text  rather  cast  a  damp  on  my 
hopes,  for  it  seemed  to  describe  my  character.  I  gen- 
erally used  a  form  of  prayer,  but  when  I  felt  such 
emotions  as  I  have  described,  I  prayed  in  such  words 
as  occurred.  From  about  thirteen  to  sixteen  I  be- 
came more  careless,  often  spending  the  Sabbath  even- 
ings in  idle  conversation  with  my  companions,  and  I 
was  pleased  to  find  my  conscience  become  less  and 
less  scrupulous.  I  also  began  to  swear,  •  because, 
according  to  the  fashion  of  the  times,  it  seemed  to  be 
manly;  and  except  a  form  of  prayer,  which  I  still 
kept  up,  every  serious  idea  seemed  to  have  fled. 
Some  things,  however,  occurred  which  led  me  back  to 
a  kind  of  decency.  Some  vexation  which  I  met  with 
from  a  quarrel  with  some  companions,  caused  me  to 
pray  to  God,  and  I  began  again  to  read  my  Bible  on 
the  Sabbath,  and  completely  gave  up  swearing  for  a 
season.  They  laughed,  and  I  endured  some  ridicule 
for  thus  spending  the  Sabbath;  but  the  opposition 
rather  confirmed  than  altered  my  determination.  I 
do  not  mention  this  as  any  thing  praiseworthy;  it 


THEIR  EAKLY  LIFE.  23 

certainly  proceeded  more  from  pride  than  any  other 
principle." 

Let  not  the  pious  mother,  who  is  laboring  and 
praying  for  the  conversion  of  her  children,  be  dis- 
couraged as  she  reads  these  pages,  and  suppose  that 
the  prayers  of  the  sainted  mother  of  the  young  Hal- 
danes  had  been  in  vain.  Her  faith  in  their  conver- 
sion, which  shone  so  bright  in  her  dying  hours,  was 
not  without  results  5  nor  had  answers  to  the  prayers 
she  offered  before  the  mercy-seat,  perfumed  with  the 
"  much  incense,"  been  denied.  The  good  seed  was  bur- 
ied, not  lost;  after  a  somewhat  long  winter,  it  was 
destined  to  spring  up  in  "  the  power  of  au;  endless 
life,"  full  of  blessings  for  her  children  and  her  chil- 
dren's children,  even  for  thousands  who  were  to 
receive  the  gospel  as  the  result  of  their  labors. 

•  The  American  Revolution  was  now  commanding 
the  attention  of  the  civilized  world,  and  was  the  first 
great  public  event  which  excited  the  special  interest 
of  the  two  brothers ;  even  James,  the  youngest  of 
them,  used  through  life  to  relate  his  boyish  recollec- 
tions of  the  excitement  produced  by  the  sudden  arri- 
val in  Scotland  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
and  the  intense  anxiety  felt  in  reference  to  the  rela- 
tions of  the  United  States  to  France. 

We  turn  now  for  a  moment  especially  to  look  at 
the  progress  of  Robert  Haldane.  We  have  already 
seen  that  in  the  year  1780  he  had  joined  the  ship-of- 
war  Monarch,  where  he  remained  until  the  spring  of 
1781,  when  the  ship  was  ordered  to  the  West  Indies; 
and  Lord  Duncan,  who  commanded  it,  having  greatly 


24  THE  HALDANES. 

suffered  in  his  health  from  the  climate  of  Havana,  he 
was  persuaded  to  relinquish  a  tropical  expedition  for 
active  service  nearer  home,  and  Robert  was  about  the 
same  time  transferred  to  the  Foudroyant, 

While  Eobert  Haldane  was  thus  engaged  in  the 
British  navy,  after  the  return  of  the  Foudroyant  to  • 
Spithead,  he  had  frequent  opportunities  of  visiting  . 
Gosport,  a  southern  port  of  England,  and  of  attend'  w 
ing  the  ministry  of  the  late  Rev.  David  Bogue,  whose 
future  influence  on  his  mind  and  that  of  his  brother, 
both  intellectually  and  spiritually,  was  equally  great 
and  blessed.  Dr.  Bogue  was  a  Scotch  Presbyterian 
minister,  educated  for  the  Established  church,  who 
settled  in  1778  at  Gosport,  where  he  continued  till 
his  death,  in  1825,  as  pastor  of  an  Independent  or 
Congregational  church.  He  was  among  the  foremost 
men  in  the  land  in  works  of  Christian  benevolence, 
the  originator  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  and 
for  many  years  the  president  of  a  college  for  the  edu^ 
cation  of  young  ministers.  Both  the  young  Haldanes 
were  within  a  short  time  brought  into  association 
with  Dr.  Bogue,  to  whom  they  became  most  ardently 
attached.  They  attended  his  ministry,  their  reading 
was  directed  by  his  sound  judgment,  and  their  books, 
both  on  land  and  at  sea,  were  selected  by  him.  Thus 
the  Lord  was  pleased  to  work  out  his  gracious  de- 
signs, leading  his  dependent  servants  by  a  way  they 
knew  not^  so  to  prepare  them  for  services  they  did 
not  originally  intend  to  perform. 

Robert  Haldane  nobly  discharged  his  duties  in 
the  British  navy ;  and  considering  his  force  of  char- 


THEIR  EARLY  LIFE.  25 

acter,  his  foresight,  and  powers  of  combination,  togeth- 
er with  the  confidence  he  could  always  inspire  among 
his  associates,  it  is  no  matter  of  surprise  that  two  of 
the  greatest  British  admirals  under  whom  he  served 
should  have  predicted  that  he  would  rise  to  renown. 
But  how  different  was  his  career  from  that  which 
usually  attracts  the  admiration  of  the  world.  The 
blood-stained  laurels  of  the  conquering  hero  were  not 
to  encircle  his  brow,  nor  was  he  to  achieve  stars,  cor- 
onets, nor  ribbons  of  honor.  As  a  good  soldier  of 
Jesus  Christ,  he  was  to  "  fight  the  good  fight  of  faith  f 
to  wrestle  "with  principalities  and  powers  and  spirit- 
ual wickedness  in  high  places ;"  and  finally,  finishing 
his  course  with  joy,  to  lay  hold  of  "the  crown  of 
righteousness,"  but  only  to  lay  it  before  the  throne  of 
the  Lamb, 

•  Robert  was  only  in  his  twentieth  year  when  the 
peace  of  1783  brought  his  short  but  eventful  career 
in  the  navy  to  a  close.  The  great  business  of  his 
useful  life  did  not  commence  for  twelve  years  after- 
wards, at  the  age  of  thirty-two,  when  his  brother 
also,  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight,  quitted  the  sea,  with 
a  mind  solemnly  impressed  with  the  vanities  of  time 
and  the  infinite  magnitude  of  eternity. 

While  Robert  Haldane  was  enjoying  the  friend- 
ship and  ministry  of  Dr.  Bogue,  he  was  a  witness,  in 
August,  1782,  of  the  loss  of  the  Royal  George.  On 
the  morning  of  that  memorable  day  he  was  looking 
through  a  telescope,  watching  with  interest  the  keel- 
ing over  of  the  ship,  when  suddenly  it  overset,  filled, 
and  sunk.     There  were  at  least  twelve  hundred  per- 

Haldaneg.  2 


26  THE  HALDANES. 

sons  on  board,  including  women  and  children,  and  in 
charge  of  a  boat  from  the  Foudroyant  he  was  among 
the  most  active  in  picking  up  and  saving  the  drown- 
ing crew.  Not  more,  however,  than  t]((ree  hundred 
persons  were  rescued  ;  and  at  Portsea  and  the  Isle  of 
Wight  so  many  dead  bodies  were  interred,  that  it  was 
believed  that  nine  hundred  perished.  On  the  follow- 
ing Lord's  day  Dr.  Bogue  preached  a  sermon,  which 
produced  a  deep  and  extensive  impression,  from  Psa. 
36 : 6,  "  Thy  judgments  are  a  great  deep." 
^  After  Robert  Haldane  had  relinquished  a  service 

to  which  to  the  last  he  was  enthusiastically  attached, 
he  remained  for  a  few  months  at  Gosport,  enjoying 
the  society  and  tuition  of  Dr.  Bogue,  and  then,  pro- 
ceeded to  Edinburgh,  where  he  resumed  his  collegiate 
studies.  The  summer  of  1784  he  spent  partly  at  Lun- 
die-house,  and  partly  in  a  short  tour  to  Paris  and  the 
Netherlands,  accompanied  by  Dr.  Bogue,  who  had 
also  another  young  man  under  his  charge.  In  that 
eminent  minister's  private  journal,  as  published  in  his 
Life  by  Dr.  Bennett,  he  says,  "We  spent  a  month  in 
wandering  through  France  and  Flanders.  It  was  not 
good  for  my  soul." 

In  February,  1785,  while  he  was  abroad,  Robert 
Haldane  attained  his  majority,  and  in  the  month  of 
April  in  the  following  year,  shortly  after  his  return 
home,  he  married  Katharine  Cochran  Oswald,  then 
only  in  her  eighteenth  year.  The  union  lasted  nearly 
fifty-seven  years,  and  Mrs.  Haldane  proved  herself  to 
be  singularly  adapted  to  be  a  true  helpmeet  in  all  his 
future  plans,  participating  in  his  desires  of  usefulness, 


THEIR  EARLY  LIFE.     ^  2t 

aiding  him  by  her  prudent  counsel  and  sympathy,  and 
never  interposing  her  own  personal  wishes  or  com- 
forts as  an  obstacle  to  their  accomplishment.  In 
1786  they  settled  at  his  residence  in  Airthrey,  and  in 
the  following  year  their  daughter  and  only  child  was 
born.  j- 

For  nearly  ten  years  after  his  marriage,  Robert 
Haldane's  time  was  chiefly  occupied  with  country  pur- 
suits, and  in  ornamenting  his  pleasure-grounds,  when 
landscape  gardening  was  far  less  ijommon  in  Scotland 
than  it  is  at  present.  Among  the  erections  in  his 
woods,  there  was  one  which  excited  considerable  in- 
terest. It  was  a  hermitage,  constructed  after  the 
model  of  the  woodland  retreat  to  which  Goldsmith's 
Angelina  is  led  by  the  taper's  ray,  and  where  she  dis- 
covered her  slighted  friend  and  lover,  who  had  thus 
become  a  hermit.  On  the  sides  of  the  adjacent  rock, 
or  within  the  hut  itself,  the  lines  of  Goldsmith  were 
painted,  concluding  with  the  sentimental  moral, 

"  Then,  pilgrim,  turn,  thy  cares  forego — 
All  earth-born  cares  are  wrong ; 
Man  wants  but  little  here  below, 
,  ■  '  Nor  wants  that  little  long." 

The  erection  of  this  hermitage  nearly  cost  Mr. 
Haldane  his  life ;  for,  standing  too  near  the  edge  of 
the  rock  on  which  it  was  placed,  giving  directions  to 
the  workmen,  his  foot  slipped,  and  but  for  a  post 
which  he  was  enabled  to  grasp,  he  would  have  been 
precipitated  to  the  bottom.  Not  content  with  the 
erection  of  this  ideal  hermitage,  Mr.  Haldane,  who 
in  his  younger  days  always  delighted  in  a  practical 


28  THE  HALDANES. 

joke,  advertised  for  a  real  hermit,  specifying  the  con- 
ditions, which  were  to  be  in  accordance  with  the  beau 
ideal  of  Goldsmith,  including  the  prohibition  of  ani- 
mal food.  But  the  restrictions  did  not  prevent  the 
author  of  the  jest  from  being  obliged  to  deal  seriously 
with  applications  for  the  place.  One  man  professed 
himself  ready  to  comply  with  all  the  conditions  except 
one,  which  was,  that  he  should  never  leave  the  wood. 
The  advertisement  was  not  repeated. 

Shortly  after  the  construction  of  his  beautiful 
lake,  Robert  Haldane  was  again  placed  in  imminent 
danger.  During  the  frost  of  winter,  there  was  a 
large  party  of  visitors  and  others  on  the  ice,  enjoying 
the  amusement  of  skating  and  curling.  He  was 
standing  near  a  chair  on  which  a  lady  had  been  seat- 
ed, when  the  ice  suddenly  broke,  and  he  was  nearly 
carried  under.  With  great  presence  of  mind  he 
seized  on  the  chair,  which  supported  him,  and  quietly 
gave  directions  to  send  for  ropes,  as  a  rash  attempt  to 
extricate  him  might  have  only  involved  others  in  the 
impending  catastrophe.  Providentially  there  was 
help  at  hand,  and  by  laying  hold  of  the  ropes  brought 
by  a  gamekeeper  and  an  old  servant,  he  was  extri- 
cated from  his  perilous  situation. 

In  a  word,  the  situation  of  Robert  Haldane  and 
his  family  at  Airthrey  would  have  been  generally 
regarded  as  enviable.  The  esteem  in  which  he  was 
universally  held  was  great,  and  many  of  his  neigh- 
bors talked  of  sending  him  as  their  representative  to 
Parliament.  His  friend  and  neighbor,  Sir  Ralph 
Abercrombie,  complimented  alike  his  talents  and  his 


THEIR  EARLY  LIFE.  29 

prospects ;  but  there  was  before  him  a  career  in  which 
all  his  talents  and  energies,  regenerated  and  sancti-  ""  ^ 
fied,  were  to  be  fully  consecrated  to  the  service  of 
God  and  the  promotion  of  the  kingdom  "which  is 
righteousness  and  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost." 


30  THE  HALDANES. 


CHAPTER  II. 

EVENTS  CONNECTED  WITH  JAMES  HALDANE, 
FROM  HIS  GOING  TO  SEA  IN  THE  SERVICE  OF 
THE  EAST  INDIA  COMPANY,  TO  HIS  CONVER- 
SION. >  " -- 

1785  to   1795. 

We  have  already  sketched  the  history  of  Robert 
Haldane  to  the  year  1794;  we  will  now  trace  that 
of  his  brother  to  the  same  period. 

James  Alexander  Haldane  was  in  his  seventeenth 
year,  when,  in  1785,  he  entered  the  service  for  which 
he  ha^;  been  destined  from  his  infancy — that  of  the 
East  India  Company.  He  engaged  as  midshipman 
in  the  Duke  of  Montrose,  in  which  his  family  had  an 
interest.  Before  he  sailed,  an  offer  was  made  to  his 
uncles,  which,  had  it  been  accepted,  would,  humanly 
speaking,  have  insured  a  splendid  fortune,  and  changed 
the  current  of  his  life.  Mr.  Coutts,  the  great  banker, 
had  been  on  intimate  terms  with  his  father,  who  had 
shown  him,  when  a  young  man,  great  kindness.  Mr. 
Coutts  therefore  offered  to  take  James  into  his  bank, 
and  give  him  a  share  in  the  business;  but  added, 
that  he  scarcely  liked  to  recommend  the  experiment, 
as  there  would  probably  be  more  of  drudgery  than 
would  suit  a  high-spirited  young  man  with  such  pros- 
pects. The  tempting  proposal  was  declined,  and  the 
circumstance  is  now  only  referred  to  as  one  of  the 
incidents  of  a  life  in  which  the  guiding  hand  of  an 
overruling  Providence  was  conspicuous. 


JAMES  HALDANE  ON  THE  SEA.  31 

The  Duke  of  Montrose,  East  Indiaman,  was  now 
bound  on  a  voyage  to  Bombay  and  China.  The  com- 
mander was  Captain  Gray,  a  well-known  officer,  who 
many  years  after  perished  in  the  Blenheim,  with  a 
crew  of  six  hundred  men.  At  that  period  many  of 
the  captains  of  East  Indiamen  were  the  younger  sons 
of  the  nobility.  Some  of  them  were  baronets,  most 
of  them  were  either  connected  with  the  landed  aris-  *  "^ 
tocracy  or  the  great  merchants,  and  all  of  them  freely  ^  * 
indulged  in  expensive  habits,  which  rendered  them 
rather  objects  of  jealousy  to  the  juniors  in  the  royal 
navy,  who  had  not  the  same  means  of  acquiring  for- 
tune. James  Haldane's  conduct  on  board  the  Mon- 
trose was  exemplary,  and  his  attention  to  his  duties 
secured  the  approbation  of  his  superiors.  His  energy  .. 
was  always  combined  with  intelligence  and  skill, 
while  he  possessed  a  valuable  store  of  books,  which 
filled  a  large  sea-chest,  and  afterwards  occupied  a 
considerable  space  in  his  library.  We  have  already 
said  that  they  were  chosen  by  the  discriminating  taste 
of  Dr.  Bogue,  who  added  a  few  well-selected  relig- 
ious works,  among  which  was  "Doddridge's  Rise  and 
Progress  of  Religion  in  the  Soul."  It  was  often,  in 
after-life,  a  matter  of  surprise  to  many  that  James 
Haldane,  a  sailor,  should  have  been  so  well  informed ; 
but  not  only  did  he  go  to  sea  at  a  later  period  than 
usual,  but  he  was  always  fond  of  reading,  so  that 
while  ploughing  the  ocean  or  visiting  distant  regions, 
he  studied  history,  biography,  voyages,  and  travels ; 
diversifying  these  pursuits  witli  poetry,  philosophy, 
and  other  studies  in  the  English  and  French  languages. 


32  THE  HALDANES. 

In  the  course  of  this  voyage,  several  incidents 
made  a  deep  impression  on  his  mind.  One  day  it 
was  blowing  very  hard,  and  it  became  necessary  to 
take  in  sail ;  and  for  this  purpose  James  Haldane  was 
ordered  to  go  aloft  with  several  men.  Just  as  he 
was  beginning  to  mount  the  rigging,  Captain  Gray 
called  out  to  him  to  stop,  and  ordered  an  able  sea- 
man to  go  first.  The  log-book  recorded  that  in  tak- 
ing in  the  maintop-sail,  "  James  Duncan  fell  from  the 
yard,  and  was  unfortunately  drowned."  He  was 
struck  on  the  head,  and  fell  overboard.  Young  Hal- 
dane was  immediately  behind,  and  had  he  been  first, 
would  doubtless  have  found  a  watery  grave.  He 
saw  the  drowning  seaman  amid  the  billows,  and  never 
forgot  the  anxious  look  which  sought,  but  in  vain,  for 
help.  He  used  also  to  say  that  this  sailor  was  the 
only  man  in  the  course  of  his  whole  life  at  sea,  of 
whom  he  knew  any  thing  which  indicated  a  vital 
acquaintance  with  Christianity.  It  was  the  general 
remark  on  board  the  Duke  of  Montrose,  that  it  would 
be  well  were  all  as  fully  prepared  for  death  as  James 
Duncan.  The  Montrose  arrived  at  Deptford,  on  its 
return  from  Bombay  and  China,  in  June,  1787. 

We  have  already  quoted  from  a  manuscript  writ- 
ten by  James  Haldane,  which  he  entitled,  "Dealings 
of  God  with  my  Soul."  From  this  important  docu- 
ment we  must  now  make  another  extract.  "After 
going  to  sea,  I  went  on  much  in  the  same  way  for 
about  a  twelvemonth,  having  no  more  fear  of  God 
than  others  around  me,  excepting  that  I  abstained 
from  taking  his  name  in  vain,  and  that  I  read  my 


i*-  JAMES  HALDANE  ON  THE  SEA.  33 

Bible  on  the  Sabbath,  and  still  used  a  form  of  prayer. 
During  that  voyage,  which  lasted  above  two  years,  I 
just  recollect  one  occasion  on  which  my  prayers  de- 
served the  name.  A  man  had  been  murdered,  and 
another  severely  wounded  by  some  savages  on  North 
island,  near  Bantam,  and  as  I  had  been  the  last  who 
had  been  with  them  before  it  happened,  I  considered 
my  preservation  as  an  instance  of  God's  care  for  me, 
and  with  some  gratitude  I  gave  him  thanks.  Indeed, 
I  had  cause.  For  some  hours  before  it  happened, 
attracted  by  curiosity,  I  went  alone  into  the  woods  to 
converse  with  the  same  people  who  soon  afterwards 
committed  the  murder.  They  had  been  all  day  about 
us,  while  getting  water  for  the  ship.  I  came  to  their 
fire,  but  they  were  not  there,  or  probably  I  had  re- 
turned no  more.  During  the  same  voyage  I  fell  over- 
board from  a  boat.  As  I  could  not  swim,  I  thought 
I  should  have  been  drowned,  but  was  so  hardened 
that,  although  I  recollect  what  passed  in  my  mind 
while  in  the  water,  I  never  considered  the  consequen- 
ces of  death.  Providentially  I  had  an  oar  in  my 
hand  when  I  fell  from  the  boat,  and  remembering 
that  an  old  sailor  had  told  me  that  no  one  need  be 
drowned  who  could  keep  hold  of  an  oar,  this  proved 
the  means  of  my  preservation.  Some  other  things 
occurred,  but  my  conscience  was  becoming  seared  as 
with  a  hot  iron. 

"  On  my  return,  I  never  thought  of  going  to  a 
church  in  London,  because  they  had  not  the  same  form 
of  worship  there  as  in  Scotland.  My  conscience, 
even  at  that  time,  would  have  testified  against  me, 

2* 


34  THE  HALDANES. 

had  I  stayed  away  from  public  worship  in  Scotland, 
yet  the  difference  of  form  in  England  easily  silenced 
its  rebuke.  I  now  began  more  fully  to  surrender 
myself  to  what  is  called  a  life  of  pleasure,  yet,  how- 
ever inconsistent,  I  still  had  sometimes  a  form  of 
prayer, -but  this  gradually  became  less  frequent.  In- 
deed, it  was  wholly  given  up  in  the  morning,  and 
often  at  night  I  fell  asleep  in  the  midst  of  this  duty, 
while  pleasing  myself  with  the  thought  that  such 
prayers  might  be  of  some  avail.  When  I  felt  any 
check  of  conscience,  I  satisfied  myself  with  thinking 
that  I  was  at  least  as  good  as  any  in  the  ship  in  which 
I  sailed  j  that  probably  no  one  else  made  even  a  form 
of  prayer,  and  thus  that  the  balance  was  in  my  favor ; 
and  I  thought,  surely  God  would  never  cast  so  many 
into  misery.  On  my  first  voyage  I  was  brought  under 
more  than  common  concern,  by  'Doddridge's  Rise 
and  Progress,'  which  I  read,  like  some  other  religious 
books,  as  a  task.  I  found  I  was  not  right,  and  resolv- 
ed to  begin  to  amend,  but  my  resolution  was  like  the 
morning  cloud  and  early  dew.  I  now  quieted  my 
conscience  with  the  consideration  that  I  wronged  no 
one,  and  therefore  could  not  be  very  criminal.  The 
Lord  laid  his  hand  on  me  during  one  voyage,  and  I 
was  supposed  by  all  to  be  dying.  I  thought  so  my- 
self, but  was  at  that  time  perfectly  hardened,  and 
sometimes  considered  how  I  should  talk  to  those 
around  me  when  dying,  determined,  although  I  might 
feel  it,  I  would  show  no  unmanly  signs  of  fear.  The 
Lord,  however,  restored  me,  and  preserved  me  from 
other  dangers  in  which  I  had  plunged  myself  by  my 


*^  JAMES  HALDANE  ON  THE  SEA.  35 

folly,  and  all  the  return  I  made  was  to  harden  myself 
in  my  rebellion." 

James  Haldane  made,  in  all,  four  voyages  to  India 
and  China.  A  circumstance  occurred  in  connection 
with  his  third  voyage,  which  for  the  time  led  him  to 
think  of  an  overruling  Providence.  He  unexpectedly 
received  an  appointment  as  third  officer  of  the  Foulis 
Indiaman ;  but  owing  to  some  inevitable  circumstances 
he  was  detained  in  Scotland,  and  not  having  been 
fully  informed  of  the  urgency  of  the  case,  he  found  on 
his  arrival  in  London,  to  his  surprise  and  mortifica- 
tion, that  his  place  had  been  filled  and  the  Foulis  had 
sailed.  He  was  immediately  nominated  third  officer 
of  the  Hillsborough,  under  Captain  Coxwell ;  but  the 
loss  of  the  first  appointment  occasioned  much  vexa- 
tion. He  little  thought  of  the  guardian  arm  that  had 
been  cast  around  the  child  of  many  prayers ;  for  the 
Foulis  was  never  again  heard  of,  and  was  supposed 
to  have  foundered  or  been  burnt  at  sea. 

Two  or  three  other  facts  may  here  be  referred  to, 
as  illustrative  alike  of  James  Haldane's  character  and 
of  the  kindness  of  the  providence  of  God.  On  the 
12th  of  June,  1792,  the  ship  Montrose  had  nearly 
struck  on  the  rocks  in  the  Mozambique  channel,  when, 
under  God,  it  was  saved  by  James  Haldane's  prompt 
decision.  Soon  after  midnight,  a  passenger  walking 
upon  deck  became  alarmed  at  some  conversation 
among  the  older  seamen.  He  instantly  went  to  Mr. 
Haldane's  cabin,  awakened  him  from  sleep,  told  him 
his  fears,  and  brought  him  immediately  upon  deck. 
The  officer  of  the  watch  apprehended  no  danger,  but 


36  THE  HALDANES. 

the  captain  having  been  called  by  Mr.  Haldane's 
order,  and  the  lead  heaved,  it  appeared  that  the 
depth  was  only  nine  fathoms.  The  captain  was  unde- 
cided, when  Mr.  Haldane  put  a  speaking-trumpet  to 
his  lips,  and  the  cry,  "Every  soul  upon  deck  this 
instant,"  sent  alarm  through  the  whole  ship,  and 
brought  the  men  from  their  hammocks.  To  put  the 
ship  about  was  the  work  of  a  few  minutes ;  and  this 
was  scarcely  accomplished  before  the  shout  from  the 
maintop,  "  Breakers  ahead  I"  warned  them  of  the 
imminence  of  their  danger,  and  it  was  discovered 
that  another  quarter  of  an  hour's  sailing  in  the  same 
direction  would  have  probably  left  the  Montrose  a 
wreck  on  "the  Barren  islands." 

The  Montrose  arrived  at  Deptford,  June  19, 1793. 
The  commencement  of  the  war  between  England  and 
France  had  been  announced  before  the  ship  reached 
St.  Helena,  and  from  that  island  a  large  fleet  of  In- 
diamen  were  in  company  under  convoy.  This  circum- 
stance occasioned  a  frequent  interchange  of  hospitali- 
ty between  the  officers  of  different  ships,  and  in  those 
days  of  convivial  excess  the  result  was  very  unfavor- 
able to  habits  of  sobriety.  Happily  James  Haldane 
was  never,  even  in  his  early  days,  inclined  to  exceed 
the  bounds  of  temperance.  On  the  contrary,  he  was 
naturally  abstemious;  but  for  a  young  man  fond  of 
society  and  full  of  life,  it  was  almost  impossible  to 
escape  without  sometimes  being  carried  away  by  the 
stream.  Indeed,  it  was  then  considered  a  reproach  to 
the  hospitality  of  any  ship  which  sent  away  a  party 
sober.     On  one  of  those  occasions,  James  Haldane, 


^  JAMES  HALDANE  ON  THE  SEA.  3t 

on  returning  to  his  own  ship,  very  narrowly  escaped 
falling  down  the  hatchway,  which  must  have  been  his 
death.  He  was  but  slightly  injured,  and  his  preser- 
vation was  almost  miraculous.  The  circumstance 
awakened  serious  thoughts,  and  made  a  lasting  im- 
pression on  his  mind.  To  him  it  was  the  more  morti- 
fying, as  the  captain,  who  was  himself  reckoned  rather 
an  austere  man,  had  previously  kindly  cautioned  him 
against  these  convivial  meetings,  telling  him  that  the 
inebriety  to  which  they  were  sure  to  lead  might  be 
allowable  in  some  others,  but  in  one  of  his  superior 
mind,  and  with  his  resources,  was  altogether  unpar- 
donable. 

It  would  be  scarcely  necessary  to  allude  to  another 
event  in  James  Haldane's  life,  did  it  not  show  the 
greatness  of  the  change  afterwards  wrought  on  his 
character  by  the  grace  of  God.  We  refer  to  a  duel 
*  in  which  he  was  involved  on  his  voyage  from  India 
in  the  Hillsborough.  The  facts  were  chiefly  derived 
from  his  own  second,  and  two  of  his  brother  officers. 
The  ship  was  crowded  with  passengers ;  among  these 
was  a  cavalry  officer,  who  was  returning  home — a 
notorious  shot,  a  successful  duellist,  and  much  of  a 
bully.  It  was  afterwards  known  that  he  had  been 
compelled  to  leave  the  king's  service,  in  consequence 
of  his  quarrelsome  temper  and  aptitude  for  brawls. 
In  the  course  of  the  voyage,  this  man  made  himself 
very  disagreeable,  and  was  rather  an  object  of  dread. 
One  day  some  high  words  occurred  between  him  and 
James  Haldane,  arising  from  a  proposal  to  make  the 
latter  gentleman  a  party  to  a  paltry  trick,  designed 


38  THE  HALDANES. 

to  provoke  an  irritable  invalid  as  he  lay  in  his  cot 
with  his  door  open,  and  who  was,  in  fact,  actually 
dying.  Mr.  Haldane's  indignant  refusal  led  this  cap- 
tain to  take  an  opportunity  deliberately  and  publicly 
to  insult  him  at  the  mess-table,  when,  in  return  for  a 
somewhat  contemptuous  retort,  the  aggressor  threw 
a  glass  of  wine  in  Mr.  Haldane's  face.  He  little 
knew  the  spirit  which  he  evoked.  To  rise  from  his 
seat  and  dash  at  the  head  of  the  assailant  a  heavy 
ship's  tumbler  was  the  work  of  a  moment.  Providen- 
tially the  missile  was  pitched  too  high,  it  pulverized 
against  the  beam  of  the  cabin,  and  descended  in  a 
liquid  shower  upon  the  offending  dragoon.  A  chal- 
lenge ensued,  and  James  Haldane  consulted  with  a 
friend  as  to  the  propriety  of  accepting  it.  That  the 
challenger  was  under  a  cloud  with  his  own  regiment 
was  certain,  although  the  particulars  were  unknown, 
and  it  was  decided  that  it  was  optional  to  accept  or 
decline  the  challenge.  But,  as  the  matter  was  then 
doubtful,  it  was  ruled  that,  in  obedience  to  the  code 
of  honor,  it  was  safer  to  give  the  captain  the  benefit 
of  the  doubt ;  and  he  was  himself  the  more  clear  on 
the  point,  as  the  reputation  of  the  challenger  as  a 
shot  might  probably  be  regarded  as  having  influenced 
a  refusal. 

The  preliminaries  being  arranged,  they  agreed  to 
meet  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  but  the  captain,  sus- 
pecting mischief,  refused  leave  to  land.  The  meeting 
was  therefore  delayed  till  they  arrived  at  St.  Helena, 
when  they  all  went  ashore  unobserved,  very  early  in 
the  morning.    The  night  before,  James  Haldane  made 


JAMES  HALDANE  ON  THE  SEA.  39 

his  will,  wrote  a  letter  of  farewell  to  his  brother,  in 
the  event  of  his  death,  and  then  went  to  bed,  and  slept 
soundly  till  he  was  called.  Owing  to  the  apprehen- 
sion of  being  observed  and  detained,  the  duellists  had 
but  one  case  of  pistols,  which  belonged  to  Mr.  Hal- 
dane's  second,  an  officer  of  distinction.  Before  the  pis- 
tol was  given  into  Mr.  Haldane's  hand,  his  second,  in 
a  low  tone,  repeated  what  he  had  before  told  him,  that 
this  was  a  case  in  which  he  must  have  no  scruple  in 
shooting  his  challenger;  that  it  was  not  a  common 
duel,  but  a  case  of  self-preservation,  and  that  one  or 
the  other  must  fall.  The  signal  was  given,  and  with 
his  eye  fixed  on  his  antagonist,  without  a  symptom  of 
trepidation,  he  calmly  drew  the  trigger,  when  his  pis- 
tol burst,  the  contents  flying  upwards,  and  a  fragment 
of  the  barrel  inflicting  a  wound  on  his  face.  The 
other  pistol  missed  fire,  and  the  challenger  immedi- 
ately intimated,  through  his  second,  that  he  was  so 
well  satisfied  with  the  honorable  conduct  of  Mr.  Hal- 
dane,  that  he  was  willing  the  affair  should  terminate. 
Bowing  to  each  other,  they  parted  with  civility,  but, 
as  might  be  anticipated,  without  reconciliation. 

As  a  contrast  to  the  spirit  manifested  in  this  affair, 
we  may  state  that  about  ten  years  after  this  duel,  and 
when  the  heart  of  James  Haldane  had  yielded  itself 
to  the  government  of  God,  he  happened  to  be  at  Bux- 
ton, a  watering-place  in  England,  in  the  public  room 
of  one  of  the  hotels,  when  a  window  was  open  near 
the  place  where  Mrs.  Haldane  was  sitting,  and  dread- 
ing its  inconvenience  to  her,  he  closed  it.  A  young 
man,  more  intent  on  displaying  his  self-confidence 


40  THE  HALDANES. 

than  his  gallantry,  with  great  rudeness  immediately 
reopened  it.  Mr.  Haldane  said  to  him,  "  There  was 
a  time,  sir,  when  I  should  have  resented  this  imperti- 
nence, but  I  have  since  learned  to  forgive  injuries,  and 
to  overlook  insults." 

Some  years  after  this,  occurred  an  event  which 
attracted  much  attention — it  was  that  of  preventing 
a  duel  between  one  of  his  friends  and  a  very  notori- 
ous colonel,  who  wrote  his  own  Memoirs  under  the 
assumed  title  of  a  baronetcy  to  which  he  had  no  claim. 
This  colonel  had  fought  several  duels,  and  was  equally 
expert  at  his  pistol  or  his  rapier.  He  had  frequently 
wounded,  and  once,  at  least,  had  killed  his  antagonist. 
Sitting  at  a  large  party  at  a  dinner-table,  after  the 
ladies  had  withdrawn,  the  belligerent  colonel  engaged 
in  a  trifling  dispute  with  an  elderly  and  much  respect- 
ed gentleman,  at  whose  head  he  levelled  a  decanter. 
This  act  had  been  preceded  by  a  torrent  of  abuse, 
which  moved  the  indignation  of  the  whole  company, 
though  almost  every  one  seemed  paralyzed.  At  this 
moment,  the  colonel's  own  collar  was  seized  by  the 
muscular  arm  of  a  young  man  who  was  sitting  by  his 
side,  and  both  himself  and  his  chair  were  projected 
into  the  middle  of  the  room.  Kising  from  the  floor, 
his  rage  sought  another  object  of  attack,  but  he  was 
so  calmly  confronted  by  the  steady  eye  and  deter- 
mined bearing  of  James  Haldane,  whose  character 
was  well-known  to  him,  that  he  evidently  cooled.  He 
demanded  the  meaning  of  this  uncalled-for  interfer- 
ence in  a  quarrel  which  was  not  his,  and  being  em- 
phatically told  that  it  was  to  prevent  violence  in  his 


JAMES  HALDANE  ON  THE  SEA.  41 

company,  the  angry  duellist  again  turned  his  re- 
.proaches  on  the  original  object  of  his  ungovernable 
fury,  and  adopting  the  words  of  his  unwelcome  pacifi- 
cator a&  a  satisfactory  explanation,  walked  out  of  the 
room,  saying,  "As  for  my  friend  Captain  Haldane, 
his  object  was  only  to  prevent  violence."  The  gen- 
tleman who  had  been  so  rudely  insulted  was  himself 
an  old  colonel,  and  at  first  thought  that  he  was  obliged 
"  to  demand  satisfaction ;"  but  the  two  brothers  suc- 
ceeded in  convincing  him  that  the  subsequent  encoun- 
ter released  him  from  the  obligation.  It  seemed  that 
in  reference  to  the  aggressor  a  spell  had  been  broken ; 
the  terror  connected  with  his  name  was  dissipated; 
and  he  soon  after  finally  left  Scotland.  /( 

A  short  time  before  the  occurrence  just  related, 
another  attracted  some  notice.  A  warrant  had  been 
issued  for  the  apprehension  of  a  teuant  on  the  Airthrey 
estate,  who  bore  a  very  desperate  character,  and  was 
now  guilty  of  both  swindling  and  forgery.  When 
the  oJGficers  went  to  take  him  into  custody  they  were 
severely  beaten,  and  came  to  report  the  result,  and 
to  solicit  additional  aid  and  the  authority  of  Mr.  Hal- 
dane's  presence.  Both  Robert  and  James  Haldane 
went,  taking  with  them  some  of  the  servants.  They 
found  the  doors  and  windows  of  the  culprit  barri- 
caded, and  the  man,  attended  by  some  of  his  sons, 
servants,  and  dogs,  and  armed  with  guns  and  bludg- 
eons, threatening  death  to  any  who  dared  to  break 
in.  The  officers  were  alarmed,  but  neither  of  the 
Haldanes  chose  to  be  thus  repulsed.  Robert  Haldane, 
with  characteristic  generalship,  walked  round  the 


r 


42  THE  HALDANES. 

premises  and  found  an  unguarded  window  which  had 
been  overlooked  in  making  the  defence.  With  de- 
termination equally  characteristic,  James  Haldane 
sprung  through  the  window,  produced  his  pistols, 
looked  his  intending  assailants  full  in  the  face,  warned 
them  of  the  consequences  of  attacking  him  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duty,  coolly  walked  to  the  front  door, 
which  he  unlocked,  and  then  called  in  the  peace- 
officers  to  remove  their  prisoner.  The  culprit  wa^ 
sentenced  to  a  long  imprisonment. 

These  facts,  in  connection  with  James  Haldane's 
early  life,  have  been  narrated  as  furnishing  a  just 
representation  of  the  character  which  he  had  by  na- 
ture, but  which  was  so  remarkably  changed  by  grace. 
Who  would  have  believed  this  to  Lave  been  the  same 
man  of  whom  the  Rev.  Charles  Simeon,  not  many 
years  afterwards,  wrote,  "  The  Lord  has  favored  you 
with  a  meek  and  spiritual  mind?"  The  gentleness 
and  benevolence  of  his  character  seemed  to  grow  as 
he  advanced  in  age,  even  to  the  last.  His  elder 
brother,  a  short  time  before  his  own  death,  finished 
an  interesting  detail  of  some  of  the  facts  now  recorded 
by  saying,  "  See,  then,  the  power  of  grace !" 

Thus  there  was  a  time  when  few  seemed  to  be 
more  "  stout-hearted  and  far  from  righteousness  "  than 
was  James  Haldane — when  the  dread  of  the  world 
was  the  only  fear  which"  appeared  to  influence  his 
actions,  and  when  God  was  "  not  in  all  his  thoughts." 
But  neither  the  world,  the  flesh,  nor  the  devil,  were 
destined  long  to  retain  their  prey.  He  was  "  a  chosen 
vessel,"  ordained  to  be  himself  a  monument  of  divine 


JAMES  HALDANE  ON  THE  SEA.  43 

mercy,  and  to  convey  that  mercy  to  others.  The  good 
seed  long  ago  lodged  in  his  heart,  was  soon  to  pro- 
duce its  glorious  fruits.  The  proud  heart,  which 
would  not  bend  before  his  fellows,  was  to  be  broken 
hj  a  sense  of  the  Saviour's  love.  The  lofty  spirit, 
which  would  not  quail  even  in  the  sight  of  death,  and 
which  could  not  bear  a  look  which  menaced  it  with 
insult,  was  to  abandon  its  stubborn  rebellion,  and 
become  humble  and  contrite  before  the  Lord.  His 
energies  and  courage  were  indeed  to  remain,  but 
they  were  to  be  directed  into  a  nobler  channel,  and 
to  be  consecrated  to  the  service  of  a  better  Master. 
They  were  to  be  no  longer  the  attributes  of  a  haughty 
rebel,  but  a  part  of  the  glorious  armor  of  the  Chris- 
tian hero,  the  devoted,  self-denying  champion  of  the 
cross. 

Mr.  James  Haldane's  fourth  voyage  in  the  Duke 
of  Montrose  ended  in  June,  1793.  In  less  than  a 
month  afterwards  he  attained  the  age  of  twenty-five, 
and  having  passed  an  examination,  was  pronounced 
fully  qualified  to  command  an  Indiaman.  Shortly 
afterwards  he  was  nominated  to  the  command  of  a 
merchant  ship  to  Madras  and  Calcutta,  which  was  to 
sail  in  the  following  January,  but  before  that  time 
arrived,  events  had  taken  place  which  changed  the 
whole  current  of  his  life.  Soon  after,  he  went  on  a 
visit  to  Scotland,  and  met  at  Airthrey  with  Miss 
Joass,  the  only  child  of  Major  Alexander  Joass,  in 
the  county  of  Banff,  to  whom  he  was  married  on  the 
eighteenth  of  September  following.  This  young  lady 
was  a  general  favorite,  and  the  charm  of  her  vivacity 


44  ,        THE  HALDANES. 

with  the  sweetness  of  her  disposition  raised  the  expec- 
tation that  she  would  make  what  was  called  "  a  good 
marriage."  It  was  not  therefore  surprising  that  some 
hesitation  existed  as  to  the  proposed  union  of  an  only 
child  with  a  younger  son,  whose  prospects,  indeed, 
were  excellent,  but  whose  fortune  was  to  come  from 
the  ocean,  and  from  foreign  climes.  Difficulties,  how- 
ever, gave  way,  and  soon  after  their  marriage.  Captain 
and  Mrs.  James  Haldane  repaired  to  London,  where 
they  resided  some  months. 

While  here,  Mrs.  James  Haldano,  who  had  been 
accustomed  to  a  highly  evangelical  ministry,  became 
shocked  at  her  husband's  disregard  for  the  Lord's  day, 
and  his  abandonment  of  public  worship.  He  was  then 
borrowing  the  arguments  which  he  had  learned  from 
Dr.  Macknight  on  his  tour  with  Dr.  Adams,  as  to  the 
difference  of  neglecting  these  duties  in  Scotland  and 
in  England,  which  even  now,  we  are  grieved  to  say, 
are  not  forgotten  by  many  Scotchmen  in  London ; 
and  to  these  James  Haldane  added  the  insinuation, 
that  it  was  much  easier  to  get  to  heaven  than  his  wife 
imagined.  In  after-life  he  himself  used  to  tell  of  a 
scene  to  which  ho  was  witness  at  the  house  of  a  noble 
earl  in  the  north  of  Scotland.  A  celebrated  and 
somewhat  eccentric  duchess  arrived  rather  unexpect- 
edly at  the  mansion  on  a  Sunday ;  and  out  of  compli- 
ment to  her  grace  and  her  London  habits,  she  was 
offered  in  the  evening  the  amusement  of  cards.  This 
highly  improper  act  was  contrary  to  the  usages  of  the 
family ;  and  her  instant  and  emphatic  reply,  "  Not  on 
this  side  of  the  Tweed,  my  lord,"  while  it  rebuked 


JAMES  HALDANE  ON  THE  SEA.  45 

the  complaisance  of  her  noble  host,  almost  implied 
that  she  felt  ashamed  of  the  proposal. 

The  preparations  for  Captain  Haldane's  voyage 
were  well-nigh  completed  before  the  end  of  December, 
including  the  arrangements  for  Mrs.  Haldane's  return 
and  safe  convoy  to  Scotland.  Their  separation  was 
the  only  dark  spot  in  the  horizon,  as  all  things  seemed 
to  smile  on  a  bright  future.  They  had  met  with  kind- 
ness from  all  their  family  connections  in  London,  in- 
cluding Mr.  Secretary  and  Lady  Jane  Dundas.  But 
after  all  was  so  far  ready,  various  circumstances  com- 
bined for  their  detention.  The  government  began  to 
entertain  a  plan  for  availing  themselves  of  the  use  of 
the  Indiamen  to  reduce  the  Mauritius;  moreover, 
there  was  a  continuance  of  westerly  winds  for  such  an 
unusual  period,  that  the  fleet  which  should  have  sailed 
in  January,  did  not  weigh  anchor  till  May :  on  these 
and  other  contingencies  was  suspended  the  future 
history  of  James  Haldane's  life.  We  again  borrow 
from  the  manuscript  which  has  already  served  us. 

"Some  circumstances  which  took  place  tended, 
before  I  left  the  sea,  to  render  me  more  circumspect  ; 
yet  was  my  heart  still  unchanged.  I  lived  on  board 
ship  nearly  four  months  at  Portsmouth,  and  having 
much  spare  time,  and  being  always  fond  of  reading, 
I  was  employed  in  this  way,  and  began,  more  from  a 
conviction  of  its  propriety  than  any  real  concern 
about  eternity,  to  read  the  Bibffe  and  religious  books, 
not  only  on  the  Sabbath,  but  a  portion  of  Scripture 
every  day.  I  also  began  to  pray  to  God,  although 
almost  entirely  about  the  concerns  of  the  present 


46  THE  HALDANES. 

world.  During  all  this  time  I  did  not  go  on  shore  to 
public  worship  above  once  or  twice,  though  I  could 
have  done  so,  and  heard  the  gospel  with  the  mme 
form  of  worship  at  Dr.  Bogue's  as  in  Scotland.  At 
length  some  impression  seemed  to  be  made  on  my 
mind  that  all  was  not  right,  and  knowing  that  the 
Lord's  supper  was  to  be  dispensed,  I  was  desirous  of 
being  admitted,  and  went  and  spoke  with  Dr.  Bogue 
on  the  subject.  He  placed  some  books  in  my  hand 
on  the  nature  of  the  ordinance,  which  I  read,  and  was 
more  regular  in  prayer  and  attending  public  worship. 
"  An  idea  of  quitting  the  sea  at  this  time  was  sug- 
gested, apparently  by  accident,  and  literally  so,  except 
in  so  far  as  it  was  ordered  of  God.  The  thought 
sunk  into  ray  mind,  and  although  there  were  many 
obstacles,  my  inclination  rather  increased  than  abat- 
ed. Being  now  in  the  habit  of  prayer,  I  asked  of 
God  to  order  matters  so  that  it  might  be  brought 
about,  and  formed  resolutions  of  amendment  in  case 
my  prayers  should  be  heard.  Several  circumstances 
"^  occurred  which  seemed  to  cut  off  every  hope  of  my 
being  able  to  get  away  before  the  fleet  sailed;  yet 
the  Lord  overruled  all  to  further  the  business,  and  I 
quitted  the  ship  about  two  days  before  she  left  Eng- 
land. A  concern  about  my  soul  had  very  little  influ- 
'  ence  in  this  step,  yet  I  was  now  determined  to  begin 
to  make  religion  a  matter  of  serious  consideration. 
I  was  sure  I  was  not  right.  I  had  never  joined  at 
the  Lord's  supper,  being  formerly  restrained,  partly 
by  conscience,  while  living  in  open  sin,  and  partly  by 
want  of  convenient  opportunities,  and  I  had  been 


JAMES  HALDANE  ON  THE  SEA.  4t 

prevented  by  my  engagements  in  the  week  of  quitting 
the  sea,  from  joining  at  Gosport,  as  I  had  proposed. 
However  dark  my  mind  still  was,  I  have  no  doubt 
but  that  God  began  a  work  of  grace  on  my  soul 
while  living  on  board  the  Melville  Castle.  His  voice 
was  indeed  still  and  small,  but  I  would  not  despise 
the  day  of  small  things,  nor  undervalue  the  least  of 
his  gracious  dealings  towards  me.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  I  had  sinned  against  more  light  than  many  of 
my  companions  who  have  been  cut  off  in  their  iniqui- 
ties, and  that  I  might  justly  have  been  made  a  mon- 
ument of  his  wrath." 

Soon  after  James  Haldane's  settlement  in  Edin- 
burgh, on  his  retirement  from  sea  life,  having  been 
introduced  to  the  friendship  of  two  eminent  Christian 
ministers — the  Rev.  Dr.  W.  Buchanan,  of  whom  it 
was  said  by  the  Rev.  Charles  Simeon,  that  he  was  "  a 
Scotch  minister  whom  I  think  it  one  of  the  greatest 
blessings  of  my  life  ever  to  have  known,"  and  the 
Rev.  David  Black,  the  minister  of  Lady  Tester's 
church — we  find  that  his  mind  became  more  than  ever 
before  occupied  with  eternal  realities.  He  wrote, 
"  On  my  return  to  Scotland,  I  continued  to  inquire 
about  religion,  more  from  a  conviction  of  its  impor- 
tance than  any  deep  conviction  of  sin.  I  was  sensi- 
ble that  I  had  been  a  great  sinner ;  but  my  views  of 
God's  mercy  were  such  that  I  was  under  no  great 
alarm.  When  I  heard  of  the  controversy  respecting 
the  Person  of  Christ,  it  did  not  seem  to  me  of  very 
great  importance.  I  had  what  the  world  calls  char- 
ity for  both  parties,  thinking  both  were  Christians. 


48  THE  HALDANES. 

When  the  matter  was  discussed,  I  took  the  side  to 
which  I  was  accustomed,  but  had  hardly  any  opinion 
on  the  subject.  A  conversation  between  a  person 
who  argued  so  as  to  take  from  the  Socinians  any 
degree  of  guilt  for  their  opinions,  and  an  eminently 
pious  man,  now  in  glory,  struck  me  much.  The  latter 
was  not  disputing  for  victory,  but  maintaining  that 
truth  which  was  sweeter  to  his  soul  than  the  honey- 
comb. Christ  was  precious  to  him,  and  he  justly 
considered  that  those  could  not  be  his  friends  who 
degraded  his  character.  I  shall  never  forget  the 
earnestness  with  which  he  said,  '  If  I  did  not  know 
my  Saviour  to  be  God,  I  should  this  night  lie  down 
in  despair ;  the  Scriptures  could  in  this  case  convey 
no  comfort  to  my  mind.'  The  expression  struck  me 
much,  and  led  me  to  compare  my  views  of  Christ  with 
his.  I  compared  the  scriptures  which  he  and  others 
quoted,  and  the  result  was  the  conviction  that  Jesus 
was  the  Son  of  the  living  God.  I  soon  became  more 
established  in  this  fundamental  and  most  important  of 
all  truths.  Conversations  I  had  with  two  pious  min- 
isters were  also  very  useful  to  me.  They  saw  that  I 
was  indeed  desirous  to  know  the  truth,  and  bore  with 
much  self-confidence,  which  I  displayed  in  argument, 
of  which  at  that  time  I  was  particularly  fond.  '  Ful- 
ler's Calvinistic  and  Socinian  Systems  Compared' 
was  peculiarly  useful  to  me,  not  so  much  from  the 
general  argument,  which  is  admirably  conducted,  as 
that  it  brought  into  my  view  that  text  in  Job  where 
he  expresses  self-loathing  and  abhorrence.  I  saw 
that  my  views  of  sin  must  be  very  inadequate,  and  I 


JAMES  HALDANE  ON  THE  SEA.  49 

asked  of  God  to  teach  me  all  he  would  have  me  to 
know. 

"I  shall  here  remark,  that  the  principal  benefit  I 
received  from  reading  other  books  than  the  Bible 
was,  that  they  explained  to  me  more  fully  those  doc- 
trines of  which  I  was  before  satisfied,  for  I  was  too 
fond  of  my  own  opinions  to  read  the  books  which 
opposed  them.  I  did,  however,  consider  the  Scrip- 
tures as  certain  authority ;  and  as  soon  as  I  found 
them  against  any  of  my  opinions,  I  readily  gave 
them  up. 

"My  thoughts  began  now  to  be  particularly  turned 
to  election,  a  doctrine  which  indeed  was  foolishness 
unto  me ;  it  seemed  so  irrational,  that  I  thought  I 
should  never  embrace  it.  A  good  minister  with 
whom  I  frequently  conversed  on  the  subject,  told  me 
I  should  by  and  by  change  my  opinion.  I  thought  it 
impossible  ;  and  so  attached  was  I  to  my  own  way  of 
thinking,  that  I  could  hardly  suppose  sensible  and 
good  men  did  really  believe  the  contrary.  I  was 
well  pleased  to  enter  upon  the  argument,  and  though 
every  conversation  left  me  more  established  in  my 
own  opinion,  yet  they  were  afterwards  of  use.  Once 
in  particular,  that  minister  read  to  me  the  first  chap- 
ter of  the  epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  and  said,  if  the 
doctrine  was  not  clearly  established  by  that  passage, 
any  meaning  whatever  might  be  affixed  to  Scripture. 
My  chief  concern  was  to  know  the  will  of  God. 
This,  however,  afforded  food  for  pride ;  I  thought  my 
attainments  were  great,  and  had  much  self-righteous- 
ness.   I  gradually  obtained  clearer  views  of  the  gos- 

Haldanes.  3 


50  THE  HALDANES. 

pel ;  and  in  reading,  '  As  many  as  were  ordained  to 
eternal  life  believed/  Acts  13  :  48,  my  whole  system 
as  to  free-will  was  overturned.  I  saw  that  being 
ordained  to  eternal  life  was  not  the  consequence  of 
faith,  but  that  the  children  of  God  believed  because 
they  were  thus  ordained.  This  gave  a  considerable 
blow  to  my  self-righteousness,  and  henceforth  I  read 
the  Scriptures  more  in  a  childlike  spirit,  for  hitherto 
I  had  often  been  obliged  to  search  for  some  interpre- 
tation of  Scripture  which  would  agree  with  my  sys- 
tem. I  now  saw  more  of  the  freeness  of  the  grace  of 
the  gospel,  and  the  necessity  of  being  born  again. 
Gradually  becoming  more  dissatisfied  with  myself, 
being  convinced  especially  of  the  sim  of  unbelief,  I 
wearied  myself  with  looking  for  some  wonderful 
change  to  take  place — some  inward  feeling  by  which 
I  might  know  that  I  was  born  again.  The  method  of 
resting  simply  on  the  promises  of  God,  which  are  yea 
and  amen  in  Jesus  Christ,  was  too  plain  and  easy,  and 
like  Naaman  the  Syrian,  instead  of  bathing  in  Jor- 
dan and  being  clean,  I  would  have  some  great  work 
in  my  mind  to  substitute  in  place  of  Jesus  Christ. 
The  Lord  gradually  opened  my  eyes ;  he  always  dealt 
with  me  in  the  tenderest  manner,  and  kept  me  from 
those  horrors  of  mind  which,  in  my  ignorance  and 
pride,  I  had  often  desired  as  a  proof  of  my  com^r- 
sion.  The  conversations  of  some  of  the  Lord's  peo- 
ple with  whom  I  was  acquainted,  were  helpful  to  my 
soul ;  and  the  knowledge  of  Scripture  which  I  acquir- 
ed in  early  life,  became  very  useful  to  me  when  my 
views  were  directed  to  eternity.     Instead  of  those 


JAMES  HALDANE  ON  THE  SEA.  51 

deep  convictions  which  are  experienced  by  some  with 
much  horror  of  mind,  the  Lord  has  rather  shown  me 
the  evil  of  sin  in  the  sufferings  of  his  dear  Son,  and 
in  the  manifestation  of  that  love  which,  while  it  con- 
demns the  past  ingratitude,  seals  the  pardon  of  the 
believing  sinner.  I  now  desire  to  feel,  and  hope  in 
some  measure  that  I  do  feel,  as  a  sinner  who  looks  for 
salvation  freely  by  grace  ;  who  prefers  this  method  of 
salvation  to  every  other,  because  thereby  God  is  glo- 
rified through  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  pride  of  human 
glory  stained.  I  desire  daily  to  see  more  of  my  own 
unworthiness,  and  that  Jesus  Christ  may  be  more 
precious  to  my  soul.  I  depend  on  him  for  sanctifica- 
tion  as  well  as  for  deliverance  from  wrath,  and  am  in 
some -measure  convinced  of  my  own  weakness  and 
his  all-sufficiency.  When  I  have  most  comfort,  then 
does  sin  appear  most  hateful ;  and  I  am  in  some 
measure  made  to  rejoice  in  the  hope  of  being  com- 
pletely delivered  from  it  by  seeing  in  all  his  beauty 
Him  who  was  dead  and  is  alive,  and  liveth  for  ever- 
more.    Amen." 

Such  was  substantially  the  statement  given  by 
James  Haldane  of  his  Christian  experience  when  he 
was  ordained  to  the  Christian  ministry,  of  which  we 
shall  speak  hereafter ;  and  with  unswerving  consist- 
ency he  maintained  these  views  to  the  close  of  his  life. 


:# 


5^  THE  HALDANES. 


CHAPTER  III. 

EVENTS  CONNECTED  WITH  ROBERT  HALDANE, 
FROM  HIS  CONVERSION  TO  THE  RELINQUISH- 
MENT OF  HIS  PROPOSED  MISSION  TO  INDIA. 

1794  TO  1798. 

We  turn  now  for  a  brief  period  from  James  Hal- 
dane  to  his  elder  brother  Robert^  whose  relinquish- 
ment of  the  naval  profession  after  the  peace  of  1783 
we  have  already  detailed.  It  is  remarkable  that  the 
events  which  had  already  crowded  upon  him,  and 
those  of  which  we  have  now  to  speak,  were  preparing 
him  for  the  busy  scenes  of  after-life  of  which  he  had 
formed  not  the  slightest  idea.  His  ^udies  at  Gos- 
port  and  Edinburgh,  his  tour  in  Europe,  his  marriage, 
and  his  labors  in  the  improvement  of  his  farm  at 
Airthrey,  were  all,  in  different  ways,  developing  fac- 
ulties which  were  henceforth  to  be  wholly  devoted  to 
the  service  of  God. 

The  reader  will  remember  that  the  great  moral 
and  political  revolution  which  a  corrupt  court,  an  infi- 
del priesthood,  and  a  people  overburdened  with  taxa- 
tion, had  brought  on  France,  was  now  going  on ;  but 
we  should  have  scarcely  expected  that  such  a  convul- 
sion, casting  down  thrones,  coronets,  and  altars,  and 
mingling  in  one  hetip  of  ruins  the  trophies  of  feudal 
grandeur  and  the  monuments  of  sacerdotal  tyranny, 
would  have  been  the  means  of  Robert  Haldane's 
becoming  a  genuine  Christian.     We  will  give  the 


ROBERT,  TAUGHT  BY  THE  SPIRIT.  53 

particulars  from  his  own  pen,  but  must  first  refer  to  a 
fact  in  which  is  seen  how  some  of  the  future  servants 
of  Christ  are  "preserved  in  Christ  Jesus  and  called." 

He  had  been  dining  at  Ardoch,  then  the  residence 
of  a  well-known  baronet,  a  few  miles  from  his  own 
residence.  According  to  the  custom  of  those  times, 
long  after  the  ladies  had  left  the  dinner-table,  the 
gentlemen  continued  around  it.  Robert  Haldane  had 
argued  at  length  on  his  favorite  topic  of  the  French 
Revolution.  It  was  late,  and  the  night  was  dark. 
He  had  intended  to  ride  home  across  the  Sheriff 
moor,  but  Mrs.  Haldane,  apprehensive  of  the  danger, 
remained  to  convey  him  in  her  carriage.  But  he  had 
ordered  his  horse,  and  could  not  be  persuaded  to  go 
by  a  circuitous  highway ;  and  heated  with  wine  and 
excited  by  argument,  he  galloped  across  the  open 
moor,  and  regardless  of  danger,  he  reached  home  in 
a  very  short  time  and  in  safety.  The  event,  however, 
was  never  forgotten;  even  in  declining  life,  though 
never  much  disposed  to  talk  of  dangers,  he  mentioned 
this  preservation  as  one  of  the  leading  events  of  his 
history,  on  the  review  of  which  he  was  filled  with 
penitence  and  gratitude.  He  was  accustomed  to  say, 
that  on  this  and  other  occasions  he  must  have  perished, 
had  he  not  been  sustained  by  the  grasp  of  Omnipo- 
tence. 

Let  us  now  listen  to  Robert  Haldane's  own  ac- 
count of  the  results  of  passing  events  around  him. 
"Before  the  French  Revolution,  having  nothing  to 
rouse  my  mind,  I  lived  in  the  country,  almost  wholly 
engaged  by  country  pursuits,  little  concerned  about 


54  THE  HALDANES. 

the  general  interests  or  happiness  of  mankind,  but 
selfishly  enjoying  the  blessings  which  God  in  his 
providence  had  so  bountifully  poured  upon  me.  As 
to  religion,  I  contented  myself  with  that  general  pro- 
fession which  is  so  common  and  so  worthless,  and 
that  form  of  godliness  which  completely  denies  its 
power.  I  endeavored  to  be  what  is  called  moral,  but 
was  ignorant  of  my  lost  state  by  nature,  as  well  as 
of  the  strictness,  purity,  and  extent  of  the  divine  law. 
When  I  spoke  of  the  Saviour,  I  was  little  acquainted 
with  his  character,  the  value  of  his  sufferings  and 
death,  the  need  in  which  I  stood  of  the  atoning  effica- 
cy of  his  pardoning  blood,  or  of  the  imputation  of  his 
perfect  obedience  and  meritorious  righteousness,  and 
of  the  sanctifying  influences  of  the  eternal  Spirit  to 
apply  his  salvation  to  my  soul.  When  politics  began 
to  be  talked  of,  I  was  led  to  consider  every  thing 
anew.  I  eagerly  caught  at  them  as  a  pleasing  specu- 
lation. As  a  fleeting  phantom,  they  eluded  my  grasp ; 
but  missing  the  shadow,  I  caught  the  substance,  and 
while  obliged  to  abandon  these  confessedly  empty  and 
unsatisfactory  pursuits,  I  obtained  in  some  measure 
the  solid  consolations  of  the  gospel ;  so  that  I  may 
say,  'He  was  found  of  me  who  sought  him  not.'" 

Elsewhere  Robert  Haldane  says,  "  I  was  frequent- 
ly in  company  with  several  respectable  clergymen 
who  lived  in  my  neighborhood.  However  much,  from 
knowing  more  of  the  actual  state  of  human  nature, 
they  might  perceive  the  improbability  of  attaining 
universal  peace  and  justice  in  the  world,  and  of  all 
human  affairs  being  conducted  upon  these  principles, 


ROBERT,  TAUGHT  BY  THE  SPIRIT.  65 

they  nevertheless  thought  me  sincere  ;  and  instead  of 
withdrawing  from  my  company,  constantly  attempted 
to  lead  my  mind  to  infinitely  higher  concerns  than 
those  I  had  hitherto  pursued.  With  this  view  they 
persevered,  and  often  sat  till  a  late  hour  at  night, 
when  perhaps  they  had  to  rise  early  to  their  paro- 
chial duty,  conversing  chiefly  upon  the  concerns  of 
our  immortal  souls,  and  the  things  that  belonged  to 
our  everlasting  peace.  The  effects  have  been  profit- 
able to  them  and  to  me,  and  such,  I  trust,  as  we  shall 
mutually  rejoice  in  when  time  shall  be  no  more. 

*'  Conversing  with  these  gentlemen,  and  reading  a 
good  deal  upon  the  subject  of  religion,  I  was  grad- 
ually brought  to  perceive  in  some  measure  the  glory 
of  the  doctrines  taught  in  Scripture,  and  the  consist- 
ency of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  I  became  anxious 
to  be  better  informed,  and  daily  gave  myself  more  to 
the  investigation  of  truth.  I  happened  to  be  at  a 
friend's  house  two  winters,  in  a  situation  where  I  had 
much  leisure  for  such  inquiries,  I  enjoyed  great 
comfort  in  pursuing  them,  and  think  that  I  can  truly 
say,  that  under  a  deep  sense  of  my  own  ignorance  in 
the  things  that  related  to  God,  and  considerable  per- 
plexity amid  opposite  opinions  on  the  subject,  I  ear- 
nestly besought  the  Lord  that  he  would  enable  me  to 
distinguish  between  truth  and  falsehood." 

Thus  we  see  that  the  good  seed  which  had  been 
sown  in  the  instructions  and  prayers  of  the  pious 
mother  of  Robert  and  James  Haldane,  though  long 
buried  amid  the  gayeties  and  pursuits  of  the  world, 
was  destined,  under  the  life-giving  influence  of  the 


56  THE  HALDANES. 

Holy  Spirit,  to  spring  up  and  grow.  It  is  remark- 
able too,  that  this  mighty  change  took  place  in  the 
hearts  of  both  brothers  at  nearly  the  same  time. 
Each  carefully  studied  his  Bible,  and  sought  by  prayer 
illumination  from  "  the  Father  of  lights." 

No  sooner  was  the  mind  of  Kobert  Haldane  fixed 
on  the  great  truths  of  the  gospel,  than  he  began  to 
pursue  their  study  with  characteristic  intensity.  He 
was  not  the  man  to  take  things  for  granted,  or  to 
adopt  superficial  views  of  vital  truth.  He  read  much 
and  deeply  on  the  evidences  of  Christianity,  not  only 
in  the  writings  of  Butler,  Paley,  Watson,  and  other 
popular  writers,  but  in  the  ponderous  volumes  of 
Lardner.  These  studies  were  now  greatly  blessed  to 
him,  and  in  after-years  qualified  him  to  write  his 
eminently  useful  work  on  this  great  topic. 

It  is  remarkable  that  Robert  HaMane's  conversion 
cannot  be  traced  to  the  instructions  or  ministry  of 
any  one  person  in  particular,  though  from  the  con- 
versations of  many,  as  we  have  already  seen,  he 
derived  great  advantage.  Dr.  Innes  first  induced 
him-  to  commence  family  worship ;  and  Mr.  Haldane 
sometimes  used  to  say,  that  if  he  were  to  name  the 
person  from  whom  he  derived  most  spiritual  light  at 
the  beginning  of  his  career,  he  must  mention  a  jour- 
neyman mason.  This  good  man  was  employed  on 
some  of  the  works  of  Airthrey,  Mr.  Haldane's  estate, 
and  was,  like  many  of  his  class,  especially  in  former 
times,  not  only  remarkably  intelligent,  but  well  read 
in  his  Bible  and  in  the  writings  of  the  best  of  the 
old  Scottish  divines.      With  -him  Robert  Haldane 


ROBERT,  TAUGHT  BY  THE  SPIRIT.  5t 

once  walked  several  miles  through  the  woods  of  Air- 
threy,  and  on  the  way  the  subject  turned  from  mason- 
ry to  the  glory  of  the  great  Architect  of  the  universe. 
The  views  of  faith  in  the  finished  work  of  Christ 
which  this  humble  Christian  unfolded  were  so  plain 
and  scriptural,  and  so  much  divested  of  those  balanc- 
ing statements  of  truth  by  which  Mr.  Haldane  had 
been  perplexed,  that  he  saw  the  gospel  to  be  indeed 
"glad  tidings,"  and  ever  afterwards  looked  back 
with  thankfulness  to  that  memorable  walk,  in  which 
he  began  to  discern  more  clearly  that,  in  the  matter 
of  justification,  faith  must  cast  away  all  reliance  on 
the  shifting  sands  of  frames  or  feelings,  and  fasten 
only  upon  the  Rock  of  ages. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  current  of  our  narrative 
so  far  has  conducted  us  to  the  middle  of  the  year 
1795.  The  grand  crisis  of  each  of  the  two  brothers 
had  been  passed.  Each  had  become  a  Christian,  and 
each  was  about  to  engage  in  events  .the  results  of 
which  will  stretch  into  eternity.  While  in  these 
brothers  there  was  much  similarity  as  to  talent  and 
disposition,  there  were  also  strong  shades  of  differ- 
ence. Both  were  bold,  ardent,  and  energetic ;  but  in 
the  elder  there  was  more  of  habitual  caution.  In 
both  there  was  a  deep  spring  of  benevolence,  but  in 
the  younger  brother  it  was  more  apparent,  so  that  in 
his  earlier  years  his  generosity  and  disregard  of  self 
would  sometimes  exceed  the  bounds  of  prudence. 
This  had  often  been  remarked  by  their  school-fellows, 
among  whom  James  was  most  ready  to  carry  his 
object  by  a  sudden  dash,  while  Robert  was  more 

3* 


68  THE  HALDANES. 

wary  and  thoughtful.  Yet  such  are  the  contradic- 
tions frequently  apparent  in  human  character,  that  it 
sometimes  happened  in  after-life  that  Robert  seemed 
to  act  upon  impulse,  while  James  hesitated  and  more 
fully  considered.  So  was  it  in  the  foreign  missionary 
enterprise  of  which  we  have  now  to  speak.  • 

Very  soon  after  his  conversion  to  God,  the  mind 
of  Robert  Haldane  became  deeply  impressed  as  to 
the  importance  of  more  zealously  laboring  to  advance 
the  kingdom  for  whose  coming  we  are  taught  to  pray. 
He  was  exceedingly  struck  with  the  first  number  of 
the  "  Periodical  Accounts  of  the  Baptist  Mission  in 
India,"  which  shed  a  ray  of  light  over  the  moral 
darkness  of  a  century  then  closing  upon  Europe  amid 
political  and  social  convulsions.  He  was  deeply 
impressed  with  the  grandeur  of  the  enterprise,  and 
with  the  purity  of  the  motives  which  had  induced  Dr. 
Carey  to  leave  his  native  land,  that  the  gospel  might 
be  known  abroad.  He  formed  a  right  estimate  of 
the  man  whom  the  Marquis  of  Wellesley  afterwards 
promoted  to  a  professorship  in  the  college  of  Fort 
William,  but  whom  Sydney  Smith  ridiculed  as  a 
"consecrated  cobbler."  Mr.  Haldane's  reasoning  on 
the  subject  was  cogent.  He  says,  "  Christianity  is 
every  thing,  or  nothing.  If  it  be  true,  it  warrants 
and  commands  every  sacrifice  to  promote  its  influence. 
If  it  be  not  true,  then  let  us  lay  aside  the  hypocrisy 
of  professing  to  believe  it."  We  are  not  surprised  at 
his  further  statement :  "  It  immediately  struck  me  that 
I  was  spending  my  time  in  the  country  to  little  profit, 
while  from  the  command  of  property  which,  through 


EOBERT— PROPOSED  MISSION.  59 

the  goodness  of  God,  I  possessed,  I  might  somewhere 
be  extensively  useful.  A  strong  desire  occupied  my 
mind  to  engage  in  the  honorable  service.  The  object 
was  of  such  magnitude,  that  compared  with  it  the 
affairs  of  time  appeared  to  sink  into  nothing,  and  no 
sacrifice  seemed  too  great  in  order  to  its  attainment." 

Months,  even  years  were  devoted  to  the  consider- 
ation of  this  great  subject.     He  and  his  now  emi-  *\0 
nently  Christian  wife  determined  on  the  sale  of  their  ^ 
whole  property,  and  its  devotion  to  the  cause  of  mis-    *  -' 
sions  in  India.     After  much  consideration  and  prayer, 
Mr,,  afterwards  Dr.  Innes  of  Edinburgh,  Dr.  Bogue 
of  Gosport,  and  the  Eev.  Greville  Ewing  of  Edin- 
burgh, with  Mr.  Ritchie,  a  printer,  also  of  Edinburgh,   '  , 
agreed  to  accompany  them.     For  all  these  persons   -'"' 
Mr.  Haldane  was  to  supply  the  necessary  outfit  and 
passage-money,  to  make  ample  provision  for  the  per- 
manent support  of  those  who  went  with  them,  and  to 
secure  to  the  mission  a  sum  of  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  that  no  inconvenience 
might  result  to  it  in  the  event  of  his  death. 

We  will  here  introduce  from  the  Memoir  of  the 
Rev.  Greville  Ewing,  written  by  his  daughter  Mrs. 
Matheson,  an  extract  from  his  own  pen :  "  After  spend-      5 
ing  a  day  very  pleasantly  at  Airthrey,  I  heard  from 
time  to  time  of  Mr.  Haldane's  increasing  regard  to   . 
spiritual  things.     These  reports  appeared  to  me  to  be 
confirmed  by  his  behavior  during  a  visit  which  he 
made  to  his  brother  for  a  few  days  at  Edinburgh,  in   v. 
the  course  of  which  we  had  several  interviews.   From 
my  own  observation,  and  from  the  united  testimony    .^4 

r- ' 


60  THE  HALDANES. 

of  many  respected  friends,  who  had  better  opportuni- 
ties of  observation  than  I  had,  I  was  now  led  to  con- 
sider him  as  a  genuine  convert  to  the  faith  of  Christ. 

"  My  mind  being  thus  favorably  disposed  towards 
Mr.  Haldane,  one  evening  as  I  was  sitting  alone  in 
my  house  in  Rose-court,  Edinburgh,  I  was  surprised 
by  a  visit  from  him  and  Mr.  Innes.  On  inquiring 
when  they  had  come  to  town,  they  informed  me  that 
they  had  just  arrived,  and  that  the  sole  object  of 
their  journey  was  to  see  me.  Amid  the  astonishment 
excited  by  this  declaration,  Mf .  Innes,  who  had  been 
requested  to  make  the  proposal,  proceeded  to  state 
that  Mr.  Haldane  had  conceived  a  plan  of  establish- 
ing a  mission  in  India;  that  he  wished  for  the  co- 
operation of  a  few  friends  in  the  undertaking ;  that 
Mr.  Bogue  of  Gosport  and  himself  had  already  con- 
sented ;  that  they  had  agreed  to  propose  the  scheme 
to  me  also ;  that  my  consent  would  make  up  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  primary  associates;  and  that  if  I 
thought  proper  to  give  it,  Mr.  Haldane  would  sell  the 
estate  of  Airthrey,  and  devote  the  price  of  it  to  de- 
fray the  expense  of  the  mission,  as  well  as  his  own 
life  to  assist  in  its  operations.  The  scheme  was  noble. 
To  a  mind  warmed  as  mine  was  by  missionary  zeal, 
it  would  have  seemed  sacrilege  to  have  stood  for  a 
moment  in  the  way  of  its  execution.  I  consented 
immediately  ;  immediately  was  my  consent  accepted  ; 
and  thus  originated  my  first  connection  with  Mr. 
Haldane." 

Be7iares,  the  metropolis  of  oriental  Paganism,  and 
the  holiest  of  the  holy  cities  of  the  Hindoos,  was  the 


ROBERT— PROPOSED  MISSION.  61 

spot  on  which  Robert  Haldane  and  his  companions 
intended  first  to  unfurl  the  banner  of  the  cross.  Its 
bold  selection  was  characteristic  of  the  founder  of 
the  mission,  for  thirty  years  later  even  Bishop  Heber 
pronounced  a  mission  to  Benares  "  Utopian  f  yet  we 
happily  have  since  seen  that  city  occupied  by  Chris- 
tian missionaries,  who  can  tell  of  no  small  number 
of  converts  to  Christ. 

But  while  man  proposes  good  and  great  events, 
the  providence  of  God  may  mysteriously  prevent 
their  being  carried  into  execution.  Every  one  knows 
that  in  those  days  no  missionary  could  be  sent  to 
India  without  the  consent  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany, in  whom  the  government  of  that  country  was 
almost  entirely  invested.  With  this  company,  as 
well  as  with  the  British  government  itself,  correspond- 
ence was  held,  and  all  the  influence  which  the  friends 
of  Christianity  possessed  was  used,  but  in  vain.  An 
absolute  negative  was  given  to  the  proposal,  and  the 
whole  plan  had  to  be  abandoned.  The  results  of  such 
a  policy  have  been  recently  illustrated  by  the  occur- 
rences which  have  transpired  in  India. 

The  reader  will  be  gratified  to  receive  from  the 
pen  of  Mr.  Campbell  an  account  of  the  influence  of 
the  missionary  spirit  in  Scotland.  Speaking  of  the 
organization  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  which 
occurred  in  1795,  and  in  which  the  Messrs.  Haldane 
felt  a  special  interest,  he  says,  "The  society  being 
composed  of  Christians  of  all  denominations,  had  a 
most  electrifying  effect  on  the  Christians  of  the  north. 
'  We  were  like  men  who  dreamed.'     From  the  days 


62  THE  HALDANES. 

of  George  Whitefield  till  then,  the  Christians  on  both 
sides  of  the  Tweed  had  been  fast  asleep.  The  Chris- 
tians of  different  names  were  busy  repairing  and  add- 
ing to  their  walls  of  separation,  and  now  and  then 
throwing  squibs  at  each  other  from  their  battlements ; 
but  the  news  of  the  above  society  was  like  the  burst- 
ing forth  of  a  bright  meteor  in  a  dark  night :  it 
attracted  every  eye,  and  became  a  text  at  every  tea- 
table  ;  and  those  who  had  not  heard  of  it  for  a  week, 
were  looked  at  as  persons  who  had  been  living  in  a 
coal-pit."  Thus  commenced  in  Scotland  the  spirit  of 
Christian  missions  which  burns  brightly  to  the  present 
hour.  * 

An  anecdote  illustrative  of  Robert  Haldane's  char- 
acter may  properly  be  added  to  our  present  chapter. 
In  1796,  on  one  of  his  journeys  to  England  relative  to 
the  missionary  business,  he  called,  at  Portsmouth,  on 
an  old  Scotch  lady  whose  husband  long  filled  a  naval 
office  in  that  port.  He  was  most  kindly  welcomed, 
and  the  interview  was  mutually  pleasant.  Desirous 
of  being  useful  to  his  old  acquaintance,  before  they 
separated  he  asked  permission  to  conduct  family  wor- 
ship. The  old  lady  herself  had  a  spice  of  humor,  and 
well  did  she  remember,  when  Robert  Haldane  was 
but  a  boy,  how  he  delighted  in  practical  jokes.  But, 
ignorant  of  the  change  which  had  taken  place  in  his 
whole  character,  when  she  heard  him  propose  to  con- 
duct family  worship,  she  imagined  he  was  in  jest,  and 
gravely  rebuked  what  she  deemed  trifling  with  sacred 
subjects.  She  exclaimed,  in  broad  Scottish  accents, 
"  Family  worship !  none  of  your  jokes,  Mr.  Haldane; 


ROBERT— PROPOSED  MISSION.  63 

that  ^s  an  o'er  serious  subject."  .  With  considerable 
difficulty  he  convinced  the  good  old  lady  of  her  mis- 
take, and  that  he  was  in  earnest ;  and  great  indeed 
was  her  astonishment. 

Another  fact  may  be  here  given,  illustrative  of  the 
thoughtfulness  of  some  of  the  higher  classes  of  Scot- 
land as  to  religion.  In  1792,  died  Sir  David  Dal- 
rymple,  better  known  by  his  title  of  Lord  Hailes, 
which  he  assumed  on  becoming  a  judge  of  the  Court 
of  Sessions  in  1766.  He  was  a  man  of  great  eminence 
for  his  knowledge  of  law  and  antiquities,  and  was  on 
terms  of  intimacy  with  some  of  the  most  eminent  men 
of  the  age.  He  was  regarded  by  his  friends  as  a 
pious  man,  and  conducted  the  business  of  the  courts 
in  the  administration  of  oaths  with  great  solemnity. 
At  a  literary  party  at  the  house  of  General  Aber- 
crombie's  father,  a  somewhat  curious  question  was 
started:  Supposing  all  the  New  Testaments  in  the 
world  had  been  destroyed  at  the  end  of  the  third 
century,  could  their  contents  have  been  recovered 
from  the  writings  of  the  three  first  centuries  ?  Mr. 
Campbell,  who  was  one  of  the  party,  thus  writes: 
"About  two  months  after  this  meeting,  I  received  a 
note  from  Lord  Hailes,  inviting  me  to  breakfast  with 
him.  He  then  asked  me  if  I  recollected  the  conver- 
sation about  the  possibility  of  recovering  the  contents 
of  the  New  Testament  from  the  writings  of  the  three 
first  centuries.  *  I  remember  it  well,  and  have  thought 
of  it  often,  without  being  able  to  form  any  opinion  or 
conjecture  on  the  subject.^  *  Well,'  said  Lord  Hailes, 
*  that  question  quite  accorded  with  the  turn  of  my 


64  THE  HALDANES. 

antiquarian  mind.  On  returning  home,  as  I  knew  I 
had  all  the  writings  of  those  centuries,  I  began  imme- 
diately to  collect  them,  that  I  might  set  to  work  on 
the  arduous  task  as  soon  as  possible.'  Pointing  to  a 
table  covered  with  papers,  he  said,  'There,  I  have 
been  busy  for  these  two  months,  searching  for  chap- 
ters, half  chapters,  and  sentences  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  have  marked  down  what  I  have  found,  and 
where  I  have  found  it ;  so  that  any  person  may  exam- 
ine and  see  for  themselves.  I  have  actually  discover- 
ed the  whole  New  Testament  from  those  writings, 
except  seven,  or  eleven  verses,  (I  forget  which,)  which 
satisfies  me  that  I  could  discover  them  also.  Now,^ 
said  he,  '  here  was  a  way  in  which  God  concealed  or 
hid  the  treasure  of  his  word,  that  Julian,  the  apostate 
emperor,  and  other  enemies  of  Christ  who  wished  to 
extirpate  the  gospel  from  the  world,  never  would 
have  thought  of;  and  though  they  had,  they  never 
could  have  effected  their  destruction.' " 


REV.  JOHN  CAMPBELL.  66 


"    CHAPTER  lY. 

OCCURRENCES  IN  THE  LIFE  OF  JAMES  HAL- 
/,  DANE. 

1795  TO  1797. 

When  Captain  James  Haldane  left  the  Melville 
Castle,  how  would  he  have  been  surprised  had  he 
been  told  that  his  future  life  would  be  spent  in  the 
ministry  of  the  gospel.  He  had  intended  to  become 
a  landed  proprietor,  and  to  retire  to  the  country  to 
live  in  quietness  and  freedom  from  ambitious  views ; 
and  already  had  he  made  some  progress  in  the  pur- 
chase of  two  estates,  when  facts  began  gradually  to 
prove  that  his  mission  was  of  a  far  diiFerent  character. 

In  addition  to  Drs.  Buchanan  and  Erskine,  and 
Mr.  Black,  to  whom  reference  has  already  been  made, 
the  two  brothers  became  acquainted  with  other  breth- 
ren in  Christ,  whose  conversation  and  influence  greatly 
controlled  their  movements  for  many  years  after  the 
period  of  which  we  are  now  speaking.  One  of  these, 
as  we  have  said,  was  Mr.  John  Campbell,  afterwards 
a  very  useful  minister  in  London,  and  a  celebrated 
traveller  in  South  Africa,  in  the  cause  of  missions. 
To  this  gentleman  James  Haldane  wrote  in  1797, 
"  There  is  no  one  more  interested  in  our  success  than 
yourself,  and  none,  I  am  persuaded,  who  remembers 
us  more  at  a  throne  of  grace.  Therefore,  be  assured 
that  when  we  are  long  in  writing  to  you,  it  is  not 
owing  to  forgetfulness ;  for  I  believe  you  are  in  each 


66  THE  HALDANES. 

of  our  hearts.  You  ought  to  be  on  mine,  for  there 
is  no  one  whose  preaching,  conversation,  or  writings, 
have  been  so  useful  to  me  as  the  hours  we  have  spent 
together." 

Our  readers  will  be  glad  to  have  a  description  of 
our  worthy  friend.  John  Campbell  was  a  small  man, 
of  active  habits,  with  an  intelligent  benevolent  coun- 
tenance and  piercing  dark  eyes ;  he  was  of  a  practical 
turn  of  mind,  and  superior  in  his  general  manners  to 
his  position  in  life.  He  had  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  a 
good  education  at  the  High-school  of  Edinburgh,  and 
at  the  time  of  which  we  are  writing,  kept  a  large  iron- 
monger's shop  overlooking  the  Grass-market  of  that 
city.  Without  distinguished  talent  or  learning,  he 
possessed  a  large  stock  of  strong  common-sense  and 
knowledge  of  human  nature,  combined  with  active 
zeal  and  a  heart  overflowing  with  love  to  God  and 
man.  Earnest,  single-hearted,  prayerful,  and  devoted 
to  his  heavenly  Master,  he  achieved  more  for  the 
cause  of  Christ  than  many  men  of  commanding  tal- 
ents and  station.  He  was  known  in  Edinburgh  as  the 
publisher  of  religious  tracts  several  years  before  the 
London  Religious  Tract  Society,  in  1799,  commenced 
its  prosperous  career ;  while  city  missions,  Sunday- 
schools,  and  all  such  benevolent  objects  secured  his 
practical  labors  long  before  they  obtained  general 
attention. 

The  catholic  spirit  of  Mr.  Campbell  appears  in  the 
journal  of  his  first  visit  to  London  in  1789  ;  and  that 
it  may  be  the  better  understood,  it  may  be  remarked, 
that  at  this  time  Mr.  Campbell  was  a  Presbyterian, 


REV.  JOHN  CAMPBELL.  67 

the  first  minister  he  mentions  was  a  Baptist,  and  the 
other  three  were  ministers  of  the  church  of  England, 
Mr.  Scott  being  the  well-known  commentator.  ' '  Abra- 
ham Booth  is  a  first-rate  saint ;  somehow  calculated 
by  nature  and  grace  for  the  pulpit  and  the  press,  for 
prayer  and  conversation.  Mr.  Newton  is  nowise  infe- 
rior to  what  he  was  represented.  In  the  pulpit,  I 
have  always  seen  him  bathed  in  tears.  In  private,  he 
is  a  David  for  devotion,  a  Moses  for  meekness,  a  Solo- 
mon for  knowledge,  a  Paul  for  zeal,  and  a  John  for 
love.  His  house  may  be  called  a  Bethel.  He  told 
me  some  remarkable  anecdotes  of  his  present  hearers. 
Mr.  Scott  is  judicious,  humble,  frank.  When  I  was 
there  he  made  me  a  present  of  '  The  Force  of  Truth.' 
I  promised  to  spend  next  Sabbath  with  him.  Mr. 
Romaine  is  another  bright  luminary  in  this  southern 
hemisphere.  In  short,  to  say  little  of  him,  he  is  like 
a  man  out  of  the  body  altogether.  Oh  what  life, 
warmth,  and  knowledge  of  the  heart  centre  in  this 
old  man  of  God !  For  eloquence,  he  hath  lips  like 
Aaron ;  for  zeal,  a  heart  like  Moses ;  and  for  age  and 
faith,  he  is  like  Simeon.  An  Anti-burgher  minister 
said  to  me,  '  The  church  of  England  is  thriving.' " 

The  religious  history  of  Mr.  Campbell  may  be 
given  in  a  few  words.  Doubts,  fears,  and  backslid- 
ings  had  often  shaken  his  hope  and  almost  driven  him 
to  despair,  even  when  he  was  regarded  by  his  friends 
as  a  sincere  and  consistent  Christian.  At  length,  as 
he  said  in  a  letter  to  the  venerable  John  Newton, 
"  The  cloud  which  covered  the  mercy-seat  fled  away, 
and  Jesus  appeared  as  he  is.    My  eyes  were  not  turned 


68  THE  HALDANES. 

inward,  but  outward.  The  gospel  was  the  glass  in 
which  I  beheld  him.  I  now  stand  upon  a  shore  of 
comparative  rest.  When  in  search  of  comfort,  I  resort 
to  the  testimony  of  God ;  this  is  the  field  which  con- 
tains the  pearl  of  great  price.  Frames  and  feelings 
are,  like  other  created  comforts,  passing  away.  What 
an  unutterable  source  of  consolation  it  is  that  the 
foundation  of  our  faith  and  hope  is  immutably  the 
same — the  sacrifice  of  Jesus  as  acceptable  to  the"  Fa- 
ther as  ever  it  was.  Formerly  the  major  part  of  my 
thoughts  centred  either  upon  the  darkness  I  felt,  or 
the  light  I  enjoyed ;  now  they  are  mainly  directed  to 
Jesus — ^what  he  hath  done,  suffered,  and  promised. 
And  I  do  find,  that  when  the  eye  is  thus  single,  my 
whole  frame  is  full  of  light." 

To  this  sketch  of  Mr.  Campbell  we  may  add  that 
for  many  years  he  was  the  correspondent  of  many  of 
the  most  distinguished  Christians  of  his  day,  and  after 
his  removal  to  London  surprised  every  one  of  his 
friends  alike  by  the  variety  and  constancy  of  his 
labors,  and  his  success.  The  reader,  if  he  knew  him 
as  we  did,  would  understand  the  Countess  of  Leven, 
in  writing  to  Mr.  Grant,  the  father  of  Lord  Glenelg, 
who  playfully  called  him  "  one  of  the  wonders  of  the 
world."  He  died  in  London  in  1840,  aged  seventy- 
four  years. 

Another  friend  with  whom  in  q»fter-life  Mr.  James 
Haldane  was  associated  in  public  labors  was  Mr. 
John  Aikman,  to  whom  he  was  introduced  in  Mr. 
Campbell's  shop.  That  ingenious  man,  whose  good- 
humored  cordiality  contributed  much  to  his  popular- 


JOHN  AIKMAN.  v.  69 

ity  and  usefulness,  addressed  James  Haldane,  "You, 
sir,  are  from  the  East  Indies,  and  my  friend  here  is 
from  the  West.  You  belong  to  the  same  prayer- 
meeting,  and  should  be  united."  The  introduction 
was  mutually  agreeable,  and  was  the  commencement 
of  a  Christian  friendship  which  was  never  inter- 
rupted. 

Mr.  Aikman,  when  a  young  man,  spent  some  years 
at  Kingston,  in  Jamaica,  where  at  that  time  much 
infidelity  and  irreligion  prevailed.  Feeling  his  soul 
in  danger,  in  bad  health,  and  what  is  called  a  "for-  , 
tune"  falling  to  him  by  the  death  of  his  brother,  he 
fled  from  Kingston  like  Lot  from  Sodom.  He  return- 
ed to  Scotland  with  a  wounded  spirit,  probably  as  * 
the  result  of  complying  with  customs  not  approved 
by  conscience,  though  it  is  remarkable  that  he  always 
rigidly  abstained  from  the  transaction  of  business  on 
the  Lord's  day.  His  agony  of  soul  on  account  of 
his  sins  was  so  great,  that  he  nearly  lost  his  reason. 
He  was  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  by 
reading  "  Newton's  Cardiphonia,  or  Utterance  of  the 
Heart,"  which  he  purchased  at  a  book-stall  in  Lon- 
don, under  the  supposition  that  it  was  a  novel,  and 
would  do  for  a  circulating  library  he  was  then  estab- 
lishing in  Jamaica.  At  the  time  of  which  we  are 
now  speaking  he  was  studying  at  the  college,  and 
attending  the  divinity  lectures  with  a  view  to  the 
ministry.  He  had  not  the  energy  or  physical  strength 
of  his  new  friend,  but  his  ardent  love  to  Christ  and 
zeal  in  his  service  soon  won  the  heart  of  James  Hal- 
dane.    He  was  fond  of  reading,  and  in  after-years 


to  ^        THE  HALDANES. 

was  able  to  preach  in  the  French  language  to  the 
prisoners  of  war  at  Pennycuick,  near  Edinburgh. 

That  we  may  have  a  full  and  clear  view  of  the 
importance  of  the  period  on  which  these  honored 
brethren  had  fallen,  and  the  work  they  had  to  do  for 
God  and  the  world,  we  must  here  take  a  view  of  the 
moral  state  of  society  in  Scotland  at  a  time  which 
has  been  not  improperly  called  "  the  midnight  of  the 
church"  in  that  country.  It  was  indeed  a  "dark- 
ness which  might  be  felt,"  and  the  infidelity  of  David 
Hume,  Adam  Smith,  and  their  coadjutors,  first  infect- 
ing the  universities,  had  gradually  insinuated  its  poi- 
son into  the  ministrations  of  the  church.  Not  a  few 
threw  off  the  mask,  and  avowed  themselves  opposed 
to  evangelical  truth.  Dr.  McGill  of  Ayr  published 
a  Socinian  work  which  John  Newton  declared  alarm- 
ed him  more  than  all  the  volumes  of  Priestley ;  and 
Dr.  Blair's  moral  sermons  showed  how  in  Scotland, 
as  well  as  in  England,  the  professed  ministers  of 
Christ  could  become,  in  the  words  of  Bishop  Horsley, 
little  better  than  "  the  apes  of  Epictetus." 

But  instead  of  using  our  own  pen  to  describe  the 
painful  condition  of  Scotland  when  the  Haldanes 
were  raised  up  for  usefulness  in  restoring  the  light, 
we  will  transcribe  from  "The  Autobiography  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Hamilton  of  Strathblane "  a  gloomy  picture, 
but  alas,  not  too  dark  in  its  shades,  begging  the  reader 
to  remember  that  he  was  a  faithful  minister  who  lived 
and  died  in  the  communion  of  the  Scottish  church. 
He  says,  "  Principal  Hill  and  Dr.  Finlayson  ruled  the 
assemblies,  and  the  parishes  were  occupied  by  the 


'    '    ^  '  LOW  STATE  OF  RELIGION.  tl 

pupils  of  such  divines  as  Simpson,  Leechman,  Baillie, 
and  Wright.  Many  of  them  were  genuine  Socinians. 
Many  of  them  were  ignorant  of  theology  as  a  system, 
and  utterly  careless  about  the  merits  of  any  creed  or 
confession.  They  seemed  miserable  in  the  discharge 
of  every  ministerial  duty.  When  they  preached,  their 
sermons  generally  turned  on  honesty,  good  neighbor- 
hood, and  kindness.  To  deliver  a  gospel  sermon,  or 
preaoh  to  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  dying  sinners, 
was  as  completely  beyond  their  power  as  to  speak  in 
the  language  of  angels.  The  coldness  and  indiffer- 
ence of  the  minister,  while  they  proclaimed  his  own 
aversion  to  his  employment,  were  seldom  lost  on  the 
-  people.  The  congregations  rarely  amounted  to  a 
tenth  of  the  parishioners,  and  the  one  half  of  this 
small  number  were  generally,  during  the  half-hour's 
soporific  harangue,  fast  asleep.  They  were  free  from 
hypocrisy.  They  had  no  more  religion  in  private 
than  in  public.  The  expansion  of  feature,  the  glisten- 
ing of  the  eye,  the  fluency  and  warmth  of  speech  at 
convivial  parties,  showed  that  their  heart  and  soul 
were  there,  and  that  the  pleasures  of  the  table  and 
the  hilarity  of  the  gay  constituted  their  paradise." 

The  whole  history  of  the  church  illustrates  the 
fact,  that  even  in  the  darkest  periods  God  has,  often 
in  the  most  obscure  places,  faithful  servants,  who 
zealously  labor  for  the  advancement  of  his  -glory,  and 
who,  probably  under  adverse  circumstances,  are  pre- 
paring for  extensive  usefulness. 

Such  was  the  case  with  the  Eev.  John  Jamieson, 
afterwards  doctor  of  divinity,  of  Edinburgh,  and  the 


^-^^ 


12  THE  HALDANES. 

author  of  several  very  important  works.  When  but 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  after  a  regular  education  for 
the  ministry,  he  was  ordained,'  in  1780,  over  the 
Secession  church  at  Forfar.  Nothing  could  have 
induced  him  to  accept  a  station  offering  not  a  single 
worldly  advantage,  but  the  hope  of  usefulness ;  and 
with  this  he  was  greatly  favored,  even  in  that  unprom- 
ising place.  Here  is  one  instance  of  his  usefulness, 
which  we  have  selected  from  several  before  us. 

The  wife  of  a  respectable  farmer,  a  very  pious 
woman,  having  become  a  member  of  the  congregation, 
her  husband  was  exceedingly  angry  that  she  should 
belong  to  a  sect  which  was  "everywhere  spoken 
against."  He  remonstrated  with  her  on  the  subject, 
and  even  threatened,  that  if  she  persevered  in  going 
to  that  place,  he  would  expel  her  from  his  house.  She 
heard  him  with  patience  and  meekness,  and  told  him 
with  a  smile  that  he  would  not  deal  so  severely  as  he 
said.  On  the  morning  of  the  next  communion  the 
matter  came  to  a  crisis.  The  farmer  was  greatly 
excited,  and  he  told  his  wife  in  a  loud  and  menacing 
tone  th£\it  if  she  went  to  the  church  she  need  not 
again  return  to  the  house,  for  he  would  not  receive 
her.  Her  only  reply  was,  "  William,  you  will  not  be 
so  hard  as  you  say."    She  dressed  herself,  and  set  out. 

When  she  was  gone,  the  poor  man  felt  as  he  had 
never  done  before,  and  said  to  himself,  "  This  is  most 
amazing.  That  wife  of  mine  is  as  docile,  obedient, 
and  dutiful  a  woman  as  ever  man  had  in  every  thing 
but  on  this  point.  There  must  be  something  uncom- 
mon about  that  church  and  minister.    I  '11  go  too." 


EEV.  JOHN  JAMIESON.  13 

The  church  was  at  some  distance ;  and  as  he  knew 
the  road  his  wife  was  accustomed  to  take,  he  took 
another,  and  arrived  at  the  church  before  her.  "And 
what,  sir,"  said  he  afterwards  when  telling  his  story, 
"  do  you  think  I  was  doing  all  the  time  of  the  whole 
service?  I  was  going  to  have  a  rmp,  [sale,]  in  a 
few  weeks,  and  I  was  busy  in  calculating  what  this 
field  would  bring,  and  what  that  lot  of  cattle  would 
sell  for."  Such  were  his  thoughts  till  Dr.  Jamieson 
went  into  the  pulpit  after  the  communion.  His  atten- 
tion was  then  arrested,  and  the  arrow  of  conviction 
entered  his  soul.  It  was  the  hour  of  his  merciful  vis- 
itation, when  "the  Day-spring  from  on  high"  shone 
upon  his  mind,  and  he  left  the  church  a  heart-stricken 
and  humbled  penitent,  who  could  find  no  rest  till  he 
had  believed  on  the  Saviour  of  sinners,  and  cast  in 
his  lot  with  those  he  had  so  much  hated. 

This  excellent  man,  who  cordially  loved  the  doc- 
trines of  a  crucified  Saviour,  labored  in  his  latter 
years  to  reunite  the  two  bodies  of  seceders  from  the 
established  church  of  his  native  country,  and  happily 
succeeded  in  the  object  on  which  he  had  set  his  heart. 
He  received  many  literary  honors  from  this  and 
other  countries,  and  special  tokens  of  respect  from  his 
sovereign  George  IV.  He  died  at  the  age  of  nearly 
fourscore  years,  in  1838. 

We  shall  be  forgiven  if  we  here  speak  of  Dr. 
Jamieson's  readiness  to  turn  passing  events  to  account, 
in  furnishing  instruction  to  his  hearers.  He  was 
once  called  to  preach  immediately  after  a  great  fall 
of  snow.    The  streets  were  deeply  covered  with  it : 

Haldanes.  4  '  ^ 


t4  THE  HALDANES. 

tlie  roofs  were  loaded ;  tlie  windows  of  the  cliurch 
were  half  closed  up,  and  a  kind  of  twilight  was  dif- 
fused through  the  house.  He  read  his  text :  "  Cast 
not  away  therefore  your  confidence,  which  hath  great 
recompense  of  reward."  Heb.  10:35.  The  effect 
produced  by  the  introduction,  which  we  will  now 
transcribe,  may  be  easily  imagined. 

"  A  man  has  a  journey  to  perform,  which  he  is 
very  anxious  to  accomplish.  The  day  is  dreary  and 
tempestuous.  The  storm  beats  against  the  window, 
or  rushes  past  in  angry  gusts,  and  the  drift  is  flying 
in  a  thick  and  wreathed  form.  Every  thing  warns 
him  of  danger,  and  his  friends,  urge  him  to  remain, 
and  not  to  expose  himself  to  destruction.  But  seated 
as  he  has  been  beside  a  comfortable  fire,  enjoying 
health  and  vigor  and  great  elasticity  of  spirits,  he 
has  no  fear  of  the  war  of  elements  raging  without. 
He  judges  from  his  present  feelings,  and  refusing  to 
think  of  the  power  of  the  storm,  or  to  be  swayed  by 
the  remonstrances  of  his  friends,  he  sets  out  on  his 
journey.  The  snow  is  deep,  and  he  walks,  with  difli- 
culty  ;  the  drift  blinds  his  sight  so  that  he  cannot  see 
the  path  before  him,  and  the  opposing  tempest  grad- 
ually lessens  his  energies.  He  makes  renewed  and 
vigorous  efforts,  but  his  strength  becomes  exhausted, 
languor  creeps  over  him,  and  he  is  unable  to  advance. 
Despair  and  anguish  lay  hold  on  him,  and  he  sits 
down,  lamenting  in  the  hour  of  his  dissolution  that 
he  rejected  the  testimony  of  reason  and  friendship. 

"  So  is  it  with  the  sinner.  The  revelation  of  God 
tells  him  that  the  storm  of  vengeance  is  coming,  and 


^^ 


REY.  JOHN  JAMIESON.  15 

that  it  will  burst  with  resistless  fury  on  the  impen- 
itent ;  and  in  the  most  earnest  and  affectionate  man- 
ner, entreats  him  to  flee  to  the  shelter  which  infinite 
mercy  has  provided.  But  the  unhappy  man  laughs  at 
the  warning.  He  feels  that  the  present  life  is  a  sea- 
son of  forbearance,  in  which  God  does  not  usually 
punish  the  transgressor ;  and  as  he  feels  at  ease  and 
in  comfort,  he  hopes  the  future  will  resemble  the  pres- 
ent, and  that  the  terrors  of  the  Lord  will  never  come. 
So  he  rushes  along  the  path  of  time,  reckless  and 
unconcerned,  till  the  season  of  forbearance  has  ex- 
pired, and  the  wrath  of  God  is  poured  out  upon  him ; 
then  he  falls  under  the  awful  tempest,  and  perishes 
for  ever. 

"  How  different  from  all  this  is  it  with  the  believer 
in  Christ.  He  credits  the  testimony  of  heaven,  and 
improves  the  warnings  graciously  given  him  ;  he  flees 
'  from  the  wrath  to  come,^  and  turns  his  feet  into  the 
way  of  peace.  This  man  wisely  takes  God  for  his 
guide,  and  relies  on  infinite  strength  to  preserve  him 
amid  the  dangers  and  difficulties  of  life,  and  to  deliv- 
er him  in  the  hour  of  final  trial.  Thus  holding  fast 
his  confidence  in  Jehovah,  he  overcomes  all  his  perils, 
reaches  the  haven  of  his  desired  rest,  and  gains  '  the 
recompense  of  the  reward.' " 

Our  first  chapter  has  told  our  readers  how  wor- 
ship was  attended  in  some  parishes  in  the  day  of 
darkness  a  few  years  before  this;  and  we  now  see 
that  when  the  church  is  surrounded  by  its  enemies, 
God  still  has  his  witnesses. 

One  of  the  most  important  events  which  occurred 
■-.^•.  ,  ...  - 


T6  THE  HALDANES. 

at  the  time  of  vhicli  we  are  writing,  was  a  visit  made 
to  Scotland  by  the  Rev.  Charles  Simeon,  an  evangeli- 
cal and  zealous  Episcopal  minister,  then  laboring,  in 
the  full  vigor  of  his  youth,  in  the  university  town  of 
Cambridge.  Invited  by  Dr.  W.  Buchanan,  he  was  on 
his  way  to  Edinburgh,  and  according  to  arrangement 
met  Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  Haldane  at  Airthrey.  This 
visit,  though  extending  only  to  a  few  days,  was  marked 
by  the  blessing  which  it  brought  to  a  young  lady,  to 
whom,  after  listening  to  her  music,  he  spoke  on  the 
importance  of  consecrating  this  and  every  other  gift 
to  the  glory  of  God. 

On  their  journey  to  Edinburgh,  Messrs.  Simeon 
and  Haldane  made  a  visit  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Stewart 
of  Dingwall.  Mr.  Stewart  had  been  previously  ear- 
nest about  his  work  as  a  clergyman  firom  a  sense  of 
duty,  but  to  use  his  own  language,  he  "was  never 
alive  till  then.''  His  own  letter  to  Mr.  Black,  written 
immediately  afterwards,  will  best  tell  the  interesting 
tale.  ''What  thanks  do  I  not  owe  you  for  having 
directed  my  late  two  visitors  to  call  at  my  cottage, 
as  I  have  thus  had  the  honor  and  blessing  of  enter- 
taining angels  unexpectedly.  Messengers  of  grace  I 
must  reckon  them,  as  their  visit  has  been  thus  far 
blessed  to  me,  more  than  any  outward  dispensation 
of  Providence  that  I  have  met  with.  They  were  so 
kind  as  to  put  up  with  such  accommodation  as  we 
could  afford  them,  though  our  house  was  a  good  deal 
out  of  order  on  account  of  Mrs.  Stewart^s  illness,  and 
spent  two  nights  with  us.  Mr.  Simeon  gave  us  his 
firiendly  assistance  on  occasion  of  dispensing  the 


^r 


REV.  CHARLES  SIMEON.  tt 

Lord's  supper,  and  frankly  preached  two  discourses 
on  the  Sabbath,  besides  serving  a  table  in  English. 
This  was  the  whole  of  the  English  service  for  that 
day.  His  sermons,  and  the  conversations  and  pray- 
ers, I  have  no  doubt,  of  both  gentlemen,  have  indeed 
been  eminently  blessed  to  me.  Since  I  first  entered 
on  my  sacred  ofl&ce,  I  have  not  felt  such  a  lively  sea- 
son as  the  last  week  has  been.  I  had  some  private 
conversation,  too,  with  my  kind  friend  Mr.  Haldane, 
which  proved  not  a  little  edifying  to  me.  I  shall  not 
fail  to  return  his  visit  when  I  go  next  to  Edinburgh. 
I  am  sure  I  shall  have  vastly  more  enjoyment  in  col- 
lecting spiritual  knowledge,  and  deriving  vigor  and 
animation  from  the  fountain  of  life,  through  the  con- 
versation and  counsels  of  the  servants  of  the  Lord, 
than  ever  I  found,  or  can  find,  in  the  conversations  of 
all  the  literati  or  metaphysicians  that  your  university 
contains." 

In  another  letter,  Mr.  Stewart  speaks  of  the  im- 
pression produced  by  a  short  interview  in  Mr.  Sim- 
eon's bedroom ;  alluding  to  the  manner  in  which  his 
pious  guest  wished  "good-night"  to  his  kind  host, 
when  the  latter  conducted  him  to  his  apartment.  In 
doing  so,  Mr.  Simeon  briefly  expressed  his  prayer 
that  Mr.  Stewart  might  be  fitted  for  the  important 
and  responsible  charge  which  he  held  as  a  minister  of 
€hrist.  But  the  words  were  "  with  power,"  and  Mr. 
Stewart,  under  the  influence  of  emotions  produced  by 
that  memorable  "good-night,"  having  next  gone  to 
Mr.  James  Haldane,  and  also  conducted  him  to  his 
room,  they  sat  down  together,  and  talked  much  and 


18  THE  HALDANES. 

long  concerning  the  gospel  which  had  been  so  re- 
cently revealed  in  all  its  glory  to  Mr.  Simeon's  fel- 
low-traveller. .  ' 

The  reader  will  be  prepared  to  learn  that  Mr. 
Stewart's  conversion  was  followed  by  a  remarkable 
revival  of  religion  in  his  parish  and  neighborhood, 
and  that  Mr.  Simeon's  visit,  undertaken  and  conduct- 
ed in  the  fear  of  God,  proved  useful  to  many  souls. 
The  two  friends  together  ascended  the  summit  of 
Ben-lomond,  and  Mr.  Simeon  says,  "There,  amidst 
mountain  scenery  inexpressibly  majestic,  we  went  to 
prayer  together,  and  dedicated  ourselves  afresh  to 
God." 

We  may  remark  here,  as  a  matter  of  interest,  that 
while  Mr.  Campbell  had  been  the  founder  of  the  Edin- 
burgh Tract  Society,  it  seems  that  the  first  public  dis- 
tribution of  tracts  in  Scotland  was  made  by  Mr.  Sim- 
eon, who,  during  his  tour,  scattered  both  in  the  streets 
and  highways  the  "  Friendly  MviceJ^ 

Mr.  Simeon  preached  his  "farewell  sermon"  at 
Edinburgh  in  Lady  Glenorchy's  chapel  to  three  thou- 
sand people.  Next  day,  after  spending  three  weeks 
together,  they  separated.  Mr.  Simeon  says,  "  We  were 
mutually  affected  with  fervent  love  to  each  other,  and 
with  thankfulness  that  we  had  been  permitted  so  to 
meet  together." 

An  anecdote  of  this  truly  excellent  man  cannot 
here  be  unacceptable.  On  one  occasion  he  was  sum- 
moned to  the  dying  bed  of  a  brother.  Entering  the 
room,  his  relative  extended  his  hand  to  him,  and  with 
deep  emotion  said, "  I  am  dying,  and  you  never  warned 


REV.  CHARLES  SIMEON.  Y9 

me  of  the  state  I  was  in,  and  of  the  danger  to  which 
I  was  exposed  from  neglecting  the  salvation  of  my 
soul !"  "  Nay,  my  brother,''  replied  Mr.  Simeon,  "  I 
took  every  reasonable  opportunity  of  bringing  the 
subject  of  religion  before  your  mind,  and  frequently 
alluded  to  it  in  my  letters."  "  Yes,"  exclaimed  the 
dying  man,  "  you  did ;  but  that  was  not  enough.  You 
never  came  to  me,  closed  the  door,  and  took  me  by 
the  collar  of  my  coat,  and  told  me  that  I  was  uncon- 
verted, and  that  if  I  died  in  that  state,  I  should  be 
lost.  And  now  I  am  dying,  and  but  for  God's  grace 
I  might  have  been  for  ever  undone."  This  affecting 
scene  made  an  impression  on  Mr.  Simeon's  mind, 
rousing  him  to  more  Christian  zeal  to  the  end  of  his 
life,  which  was  extended  to  seventy-eight  years.  He 
died  in  1836.  His  funeral  was  attended  by  his  entire 
congregation,  and  also  by  about  seven  hundred  mem- 
bers of  the  University — the  whole  procession  of  not 
less  than  thirteen  hundred  persons  being  clothed  in 
deep  mourning.  At  the  commencement  of  his  minis- 
try in  tliat  town,  he  was  bitterly  persecuted.  At  his 
funeral  the  places  of  business  were  all  closed  for  the 
day,  and  a  silent  awe  pervaded  the  whofe  community. 
The  tour  which  James  Haldane  had  taken  in  com- 
pany with  Mr.  Simeon,  had  done  much  to  call  forth 
his  Christian  zeal  and  an  ardent  desire  for  the  wel- 
fare of  souls.  This  spirit  was  much  increased  by 
spending  a  week  in  travelling  through  the  west  of 
Scotland  with  Mr.  Campbell,  whose  heart  was  set  on 
the  establishment  of  Sabbath-schools.  We  are  not 
surprised  when  we  hear  him  say,  "  I  began  secretly  to 


80  THE  HALDANES. 

desire  to  be  allowed  to  preach  the  gospel,  which  I  con- 
sidered as  the  most  important  as  well  as  honorable 
employment.  I  began  to  ask  of  God  to  send  me  into 
his.  vineyard,  and  to  qualify  me  for  the  work.  This 
desire  continued  to  increase,  although  I  had  not  the 
most  distant  prospect  of  its  being  gratified,  and  some- 
times in  prayer  my  unbelieving  heart  suggested  that 
it  could  not  be.  I  had  no  idea  of  going  to  the  high- 
ways and  hedges  and  telling  sinners  of  the  Saviour." 

At  length  James  Haldane  and  Mr.  Aikman,  of 
whom  we  have  already  spoken,  began  to  preach  in  a 
neighboring  village,  and  Mr.  Haldane  wrote,  not  long 
afterwards,  "  Ever  since  the  Lord  first  allowed  me  to 
speak  of  him  to  others,  I  have  found  increasing  pleas- 
ure in  the  work,  and  seen,  I  hope,  more  of  the  inward 
workings  of  my  corrupt  heart,  while  I  have  found  his 
grace  all-sufficient." 

Among  those  present  at  James  Haldane^s  first  ser- 
mon at  Gilmerton,  May  6,  179Y,  was  the  well-known 
Dr.  Charles  Stuart  of  Dunearn,  who  was  a  lineal 
descendant  of  the  good  Regent  Murray.  He  was  a 
man  of  deep  piety,  and  was  led  to  enter  on  the  study 
of  divinity  at  a  time  when  the  ministry  of  the  church 
of  Scotland  presented  few  temptations  to  a  man  of 
birth  and  family.  Dr.  Stuart  was  surprised  and  de- 
lighted with  the  energy  and  earnestness  of  the  preach- 
er, and  from  that  time  became  his  adviser  and  friend. 
The  decline  of  his  health  compelled  Dr.  Stuart  to 
resign  the  ministry,  and  not  very  long  afterwards  he 
became  a  dissenter  and  a  Baptist.  He  took  his  de- 
gree as  a  physician,  lived  to  a  good  old  age,  and  to 


JAMES— AT  GILMERTON.  81 

the  close  of  his  life  promoted  every  enterprise  which 
"tended  to  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel." 

The  preaching  at  Gilmerton  was  attended  with  a 
blessing.  The  people  flocked  in  crowds  to  hear  Mr. 
Aikman  and  "the  Sea-captain/'  as  they  called  Mr. 
Haldane.  The  parish  minister,  who  at  first  did  not 
notice  the  proceedings,  soon  burned  with  indigna- 
tion, and  took  means  to  deprive  them  of  the  school- 
house  in  which  they  had  hitherto  preached,  and  which 
had  been  filled  to  overflowing.  But  a  pious  trades- 
man procured  for  them  a  spacious  loft,  and  when  this 
was  insufficient  to  hold  the  people,  a  large  barn  was 
obtained,  which  also  was  filled  to  excess  by  hearers 
intensely  interested  in  their  earnest  and  affectionate 
appeals.  Not  long  before  his  death  James  Haldane 
told  with  emotion  of  his  once  crossing  the  High-street 
near  the  market,  when  a  countryman  dressed  like  a 
miller,  with  a  whip  tied  over  his  shoulder,  rushed 
across  the  street,  and  eagerly  holding  out  his  hand, 
said,  "  Oh,  sir,  I  'm  glad  to  see  you."  James  Haldane, 
surprised  at  his  familiarity,  replied,  "  I  do  not  know 
you."  "  Ah,  sir,"  exclaimed  the  honest  carter,  as  the 
big  tear  rolled  down  his  manly  cheek,  "  but  I  know 
you,  for  you  preached  the  gospel  to  me  at  Gilmer- 
ton." 

These  labors  at  G-ilmerton  produced  considerable 
excitement,  and  some  even  of  the  evangelical  minis- 
ters of  Edinburgh  became  afraid  of  the  consequences 
of  lay-preaching.  To  all  such  objectors  James  Hal- 
dane said,  "We  would  not  be  understood  to  mean 
that  every  follower  of  Je&us  should  leave  the  occupa- 


82  ^       THE  HALDANES. 

tion  by  which  he  provides  for  his  family  to  become  a 
public  preacher.  It  is  an  indispensable  Christian 
duty  for  every  man  to  provide  for  his  family ;  but  we 
consider  every  Christian  is  bound,  wherever  he  has 
opportunity,  to  warn  sinners  to  'flee  from  the  wrath 
to  come,'  and  to  point  to  Jesus  as  'the  way,  the 
truth,  and  the  life/  Whether  a  man  declare  those 
important  truths  to  two  or  two  hundred,  he  is,  in  our 
opinion,  a  preacher  of  the  gospel,  or  one  who  declares 
the  glad  tidings  of  salvation,  which  is  the  precise 
meaning  of  the  word  'preacA.'" 

Influenced  by  these  views,  James  Haldane  and  his 
friend  Mr.  Aikman,  having  heard  of  the  deathlike 
state  of  the  north  of  Scotland,  and  the  carelessness 
and  immorality  of  the  ministers  there,  resolved  to 
examine  personally  into  the  state  of  religion,  and  to 
preach  in  its  different  towns  and  populous  villages. 
They  travelled  at  their  own  expense,  in  a  light  open, 
carriage  purchased  for  the  purpose,  largely  provided 
with  religious  tracts  and  pamphlets,  of  which  they 
circulated  about  twenty  thousand.  Modestly  glanc- 
ing at  the  good  effected,  James  Haldane  added,  "  To 
the  name  of  Jesus  we  would  desire  to  render  all  the 
glory  of  the  undeserved  honor  and  happiness  of  being 
instrumental  in  plucking  any  of  our  fellow-sinners  as 
*  brands  from  the  burning.' " 

From  many  facts  of  deep  interest  which  occurred 
on  this  tour,  we  select  two  or  three  which  will  afford 
instruction  and  profit,  as  proving  that  travelling  min- 
isters calling  the  people  together  by  bell-men  and 
town-drummers  by  thousands,  and  preaching  to  them 


JAMES— NORTHERN  TOUR.        83 

in  market  and  school-houses,  but  more  frequently  in 
fields  and  other  spots  in  the  open  air,  may  do  vast 
good.  At  Aberdeen,  Mr.  Haldane  preached  on  a 
Sabbath  evening  in  the  college  close,  when  it  almost 
seemed  that  the  whole  population  of  the  city,  com- 
prising persons  of  all  conditions,  crowded  to  hear 
him ;  for  the  powers  of  "  the  preaching  captain  "  began 
now  to  be  known,  and  in  addressing  the  multitude, 
which  "almost  trod  upon  each  other,"  from  "I  am 
not  ashamed  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  for  it  is  the 
power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  be- 
lieveth,"  Kom.  1 :  16,  he  spoke  with  such  earnest  fer- 
vor of  spirit  as  solemnly  to  impress  those  least  accus- 
tomed to  think  on  the  vast  realities  of  eternity. 

During  this  tour,  James  Haldane  arrived  at  a  vil- 
lage near  Banff,  where  he  determined  to  preach  on 
Saturday  evening  and  three  times  on  the  Sabbath. 
An  instance  of  his  usefulness  occurred  on  the  Satur- 
day evening,  of  which  he  never  heard  on  earth,  and 
which  shows  how  little  a  minister  may  know  of  the 
effects  of  the  messages  he  delivers.  We  somewhat 
condense  the  narrative  as  given  by  the  excellent  wife 
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Morison  of  London  to  his  son  and 
first  biographer. 

"In  the  summer  of  1797,  Captain  Haldane,  as  he 
was  then  called,  visited  my  native  town,  in  company 
with  one  or  two  other  gentlemen,  whose  names  I  do 
not  remember.  By  the  usual  mode  of  advertisement, 
the  tuck  [beat]-  of  a  drum,  a  sermon  was  announced, 
not  at  the  usual  place,  the  Battery-green,  but  at  a 
neighboring  village,  on  the  green  banks  of  the  gently- 


U  THE  HALDANES. 

flowing  Dovern.  The  reason  for  the  selection  of 
this  spot  was  the  fact  that  the  Battery-green  had 
been  previously  engaged  by  a  company  of  equestri- 
ans. I  was  then  a  very  little  child,  ^  and  I  well 
remember  I  had  been  invited  by  a  school-mate  to 
accompany  her  to  see  the  equestrians. 

"We  had  actually  set  out  to  go  to  the  place; 
but  before  reaching  the  spot,  a  worthy  lady,  who 
knew  us  both,  met  and  accosted  us :  '  Where  are  you 
going,  my  young  friends?'  My  companion  replied, 
'To  the  Battery-green,  to  see  the  horsemen.'  'Oh,' 
she  said,  'you  had  better  go  with  me  to  the  green 
banks,  and  hear  Captain  Haldane;  it  will  do  you 
more  good.'  My  companion  said,  '  No ;  I  can  hear  a 
sermon  at  any  time,  but  I  cannot  see  the  horsemen.' 
She  determined  to  execute  her  purpose,  and  went  to 
the  Battery-green;  and  so  far  as  I  have  heard,  she 
has  never  entered  on  the  narrow  path.  Young  as  I 
was  then,  I  was  influenced  by  an  unseen  hand  to 
accept  the  pressing  invitation  to  go  to  the  sermon  on 
the  green  banks,  and  quitted  my  companion.  Cap- 
tain Haldane  arrived  on  horseback  at  the  place  where 
the  people  were  assembled  to  hear  him.  He  was 
then  a  young  man,  under  thirty  years  of  age,  and 
had  on  a  blue  greatcoat,  braided  after  the  fashion  of 
the  times.  He  also  wore  powder,  and  his  hair  tied 
behind,  as  was  then  usual  for  gentlemen.  I  can 
never  forget  the  impressions  which  fell  on  my  young 
heart,  as  in  a  distinct  and  manly  tone  he  began  to 
address  the  thoughtless  multitude  who  had  been 
attracted  to  hear  him.     His  powerful  appeals  to  the 


JAMES— NORTHERN  TOUR.        85 

conscience,  couched  in  such  simple  phrase,  at  the  dis- 
tance of  more  than  fifty  years  are  still  vividly  remem- 
bered, and  were  so  terrifying  at  the  time,  that  I  never 
closed  an  eye,  nor  even  retired  to  rest  that  night.  I 
cannot  be  quite  sure  what  was  your  father's  text ; 
but  from  the  frequent  and  pointed  repetition  of  the 
words,  'Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  per- 
ish,' I  think  these  must  have  been  the  subject  of  dis- 
course. One  thing  I  know,  that  the  impression  pro- 
duced by  what  I  heard  was  never  effaced  from  my 
mind ;  for  though  I  did  not  fully  embrace  the  gospel 
for  years  after  I  had  listened  to  your  honored  father, 
yet  I  never  relapsed  again  into  my  former  state, of 
indifference  to  eternal  things.  ..; .   ^  .     .     '. .  .     ^, 

" '  And  oft,  amid  the  giddy  throng, 
.     Did  conscience  whisper,  Thou  art  wrong ; 
;    .  Thou  art  not  fit  to  die.'" 

From  another  quarter  we  learn  that  the  sermon 
here  referred  to  produced  a  very  general  and  deep 
impression.  The  preacher  drew  the  character  of 
various  classes,  the  rich,  the  poor,  the  learned,  the 
ignorant,  the  old,  the  young,  the  sinner,  and  the  self- 
righteous,  exposing  the  various  subterfuges  under 
which  the  deceitfulness  of  the  human  heart  shrouds 
itself,  and  concluding  in  regard  to  each,  "  Except  ye 
repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish." 

During  this  tour,  James  Haldane,  accompanied 
by  Mr.  Aikman,  visited  the  Orkney  islands,  then 
most  lamentably  destitute  of  evangelical  truth,  and 
preached  to  very  large  crowds  with  a  delightful  meas- 
ure of  success.     He  crossed  over  to  Shappinshay  in  a 


86  THE  HALDANES. 

boat  sent  by  the  people  for  the  purpose,  and  preached 
by  the  seaside  to  the  greater  part  of  the  population 
of  the  island.  This  visit  was  rendered  memorable 
by  the  conversion  of  an  old  man  of  ninety-two,  who 
had  been  born  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  and  was 
now  confined  to  his  bed.  Mr.  Haldane  visited  him 
after  sermon,  and  found  him  scarcely  able  to  speak, 
though  quite  sensible.  In  his  journal  he  writes,  "  I 
asked  him  what  was  to  become  of  him  after  death. 
He  replied,  that  he  was  very  ignorant,  could  not  read, 
but  had  sometimes  prayed  to  God.  On  being  asked 
whether  he  knew  any  thing  of  Christ,  he  confessed 
his  entire  ignorance.  The  old  man  stated  that  he 
remembered  when  a  lad  herding  cattle,  under  a  sense 
of  darkness  as  to  his  future  state,  he  once  pray6d  to 
God  that  some  teacher  might  be  sent  to  enlighten  his 
ignorance.  This  prayer  seems  to  have  entered  into 
the  ears  of  the  Lord  of  sabaoth,  and  after  being 
treasured  up  for  nearly  eighty  years,  was  answered 
almost  at  the  last  hour  of  life.  James  Haldane 
came  to  the  old  man  as  the  messenger  of  peace,  and 
preached  to  him  -the  gospel;  declaring  that  now  the 
Lord  was  waiting  to  be  gracious,  and  that  if  he 
believed  what  the  word  of  God  testified  of  his  guilt 
and  misery,  and  of  the  person  and  work  of  Christ  as 
that  of  an  almighty  Saviour,  he  should  be  saved. 
He  seemed  much  affected,  and  grasped  the  speaker 
eagerly  by  the  hand.  He  cried  to  God  for  the  par- 
don of  his  sins  ;  and  being  informed  that  his  prayers 
could  only  be  heard  through  Jesus  Christ,  who  came 
to  save  the  very  chief  of  sinners,  he  called  upon  the 


JAMES— NORTHERN  TOUR.        SI 

Saviour  for  mercy,  and  repeatedly  exclaimed,  '  I  be- 
lieve, I  believe.'  This  recalled  strongly  to  our  mind 
the  case  of  the  blind  man,  who,  as  soon  as  he  knew 
the  Son  of  God,  worshipped  him." 

Amid  the  excitement  of  preaching  to  thousands 
who  hung  upon  the  lips  of  the  preacher,  many  of 
whom  drank  in  the  words  of  eternal  life,  the  poor 
solitary  dying  man  of  ninety-two  at  Shappinshay  was 
not  forgotten.  Mr.  Haldane  again  visited  him,  but 
found  him  unable  to  speak,  though  still  sensible  and 
capable  of  expressing  intense  pleasure  in  once  more 
seeing  his  instructor.  He  was  supported  in  his  bed 
while  the  preacher  spoke,  and  showed  that  he  under- 
stood what  was  said  by  clasping  his  withered  hands, 
and  raising  them  to  heaven  in  the  attitude  of  thanks- 
giving. On  being  asked  whether  he  wished  that 
prayer  should  be  made,  he  showed  his  desire  by 
attempting  to  speak.  "His  wife  said  that  he  wept 
much  after  our  leaving  him  on  the  former  day.  She 
had  occasionally  read  to  him  parts  of  the  Scriptures." 
He  died  on  the  next  Lord's  day ;  and  the  joy  with 
which  he  received  the  gospel,  the  earnest  delight  with 
which  he  welcomed  the  second  visit  of  his  spiritual 
teacher,  and  the  devout  peace  in  which  he  departed, 
gave  cheering  evidence  that  he  slept  in  Jesus. 

Caithness,  the  most  northerly  county  of  Scotland, 
was  visited  by  Messrs.  James  Haldane  and  Aikman 
on  this  tour.  Its  moral  condition  at  that  period  was 
truly  affecting.  We  are  told,  indeed,  that  it  was  then 
almost  the  universal  practice  there  to  commute  for  a 
sum  of  money  the  public  profession  of  repentance 


88  THE  HALDANES. 

enjoined  by  the  church  of  Scotland  on  those  guilty  of 
adultery  or  other  open  transgressions.  When  such 
persons  paid  the  fine,  they  were  admitted  to  the  com- 
munion-table without  scruple.  And  it  is  further  tes- 
tified, that  religion  was  kept  alive  in  the  interior 
parts  of  the  county  only  by  those  who  lived  at  the 
greatest  distance  from  the  churches,  and  who  met 
together  by  themselves  on  the  Lord's  day  for  relig- 
ious conference  and  worship.  In  this  county  Mr. 
Haldane  spent  two  or  three  weeks  addressing  congre- 
gations, beginning  with  three  hundred  persons,  and 
gradually  increasing  to  more  than  three  thousand. 
Here  too  he  heard  on  a  Lord's  day  morning  a  sermon 
from  one  of  their  ministers,  who  cautioned  his  hearers 
against  trusting  for  acceptance  with  God  to  the  blood 
of  Christ.  The  reader  will  now  be  prepared  to  read 
some  extracts  from  a  letter  relating  to  this  period, 
though  written  in  1851,  fifty-four  years  after  the 
occurrences  took  place.  It  is  from  the  pen  of  Mrs. 
McNeil,  the  wife  of  a  venerable  minister  at  Elgin, 
and  the  daughter  of  Mr.  A.  Miller,  who  very  hospi- 
tably entertained  Mr.  Haldane  at  his  house.  After 
speaking  of  a  visit  she  paid  to  an  aunt,  she  says, 

"  Some  days  after  I  went  there,  my  aunt  had  gone 
into  Thurso,  and  when  she  returned,  she  said  the 
town  seemed  in  an  uproar  about  a  remarkable  preach- 
er who  had  come  there,  and  that  he  seemed  very  zeal- 
ous, and  was  preaching  in  the  open  air.  I  immedi- 
ately set  off,  accompanied  by  one  of  my  cousins.  It 
was  on  a  Saturday  evening.  He  was  standing  on  the 
top  of  an  outer  stair,  dressed  in  a  grey  coat,  with 


JAMES— NORTHERN  TOUR.        89 

tied  hair,  and  powdered.  But  I  think  I  shall  never 
forget  the  fervor  and  divine  unction  with  which  he 
proclaimed  the  gospel  of  mercy.  It  rained  very 
heavily,  and  although  very  wet  and  miry,  no  one,  I 
think,  moved  to  go  away  until  sermon  was  over.  I 
felt  very  unwell,  but  was  riveted  to  the  place,  and 
sorry  I  was  when  he  finished. 

"  On  Sabbath  I  went  in  the  forenoon  to  the  parish 
church.  The  minister's  text  was  the  fourth  and  fifth 
verses  of  the  sixth  chapter  of  the  epistle  to  the  Gala- 
tians.  In  the  evening  Mr.  Haldane  preached  in  a 
yard,  where  it  was  thought  there  were  four  thousand 
people  assembled.  He  took  occasion  to  show  the  fal- 
lacy, of  the  doctrine  preached  in  the  forenoon.  I  was 
standing  beside  a  number  of  the  genteel  people,  but 
not  religious  people.  Some  of  the  gentlemen  called 
out,  'Stone  him;'  others,  'Stop  himj'  but  no  person 
obeyed  their  commands,  and  Mr.  Haldane  went  on. 
At  last  all  these  gentry  left  the  place,  and  I  was  very 
glad  to  be  rid  of  them.  This  minister,  of  whose  erro- 
neous teaching  Mr.  Haldane  had  said  so  much,  was  a 
particular  friend  of  my  dear  father.  My  mind  was 
in  distress,  lest  my  father  should  take  any  dislike 
to  Mr.  Haldane ;  and  that  if  Mr.  Haldane  should 
go  to  Wick,  I  might  not  have  the  liberty  to  hear 
him. 

"When  Mr.  James  Haldane  arrived,  [in  Wick,] 
an  express  was  sent  to  my  father  to  let  him  know. 
When  I  heard  this,  my  heart  trembled  between  fear 
and  joy.  I  was  afraid  my  father  would  not  allow 
my  sisters  and  myself  to  hear  him,  because  he  had 


90  THE  HALDANES. 

eaid  so  mucli  against  his  favorite  minister ;  and  I  was 
just  saying  this  to  my  eldest  sister  when  he  came  into 
the  room,  and  said,  *  Make  yourselves  ready  to  go 
and  hear  Mr.  Haldane,  and  your  mother  and  myself 
will  also  go.'  I  could  not  describe  my  joy.  We 
went,  and  the  people  were  assembling.  It  was  in  a 
large  yard.  Mr.  Haldane,  after  singing  and  prayer, 
read  as  his  text  the  seventh  verse  of  the  first  chapter 
of  Haggai :  '  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts ;  Consider 
your  ways.'  My  father  heard  with  deep  attention. 
As  for  myself,  I  was  completely  riveted ;  my  eyes 
could  see  nothing  but  Mr.  Haldane,  and  my  ears  hear 
no.  sound  but  his  voice.  Well,  that  was  the  text  and 
sermon  which  the  Lord  blessed  for  the  conversion  of 
my  dear  father.  After  sermon,  my  father  said  to  my 
sister  and  myself,  *  Go  in  to  Mr.  Craig's,'  who  was 
my  brother-in-law,  'and  give  your  mother's  compli- 
ments and  my  own,  and  ask  Mr.  Haldane-  if  he  will 
kindly  come  out  to  Statigo  with  you.'  My  joy  was 
great,  and  I  thought,  surely  the  Lord  has  heard  my 
prayers.  Mr.  Haldane  very  kindly  consented  at 
once,  and  for  two  weeks,  if  not  more,  he  remained  in 
my  father's  house — indeed,  as  long  as  he  was  in  the 
place,  except  when  he  went  into  the  town  to  preach, 
which  he  did  every  day,  and  we  always  walked  in 
and  out  again  with  him.  My  eldest  sister  and  my 
youngest  brother  were  both  at  that  time  also  brought 
to  Christ,  so  that  there  were  four  of  us  who,  I  trust, 
were  all  brought  out  of  darkness  into  God's  marvel- 
lous light.  Could  I  but  love  that  worthy  man  ?  He 
threw  his  whole  soul  into  his  subject,  and  commended 


JAMES— NORTHERN  TOUR.        91 

*  the  truth  to  every  man's  conscience,  as  in  the  sight 
of  God.' 

"  When  Mr.  Haldane  came  first  to  Wick,  in  the 
year  1797,  it  was  in  harvest-time,  the  month  of  Octo- 
ber. One  gentleman,  at  that  time  a  very  careless 
man,  gave  liberty  to  his  men  to  leave  the  field  to 
hear  Mr.  Haldane,  which  they  did,  and  reaped  the 
field  by  moonlight.  From  that  time  he  paid  more 
attention  to  religion,  and  I  believe,  under  Mr.  Cleg- 
horn's  ministry,  was  savingly  converted  to  the  truth. 
-The  deep  distress  of  mind  I  was  in  when  I  first  heard 
Mr.  Haldane  I  could  not  describe ;  and  when  the 
gospel  was  revealed  to  me  in  all  its  glory,  my  joy 
was  great,  so  much  so  that  I  was  sometimes  so  over- 
come with  it,  I  thought  I  could  contain  no  more. 
Often  do  I  wish  I  now  felt  the  same  brokenness  of 
heart,  and  the  same  lively  hope  which  I  had  in  the 
days  of  my  youth.  Often  when  these  good  men  were 
in  Caithness,  many  would  walk  twenty  miles  to  hear 
them,  and  return  in  the  evening." 

Having  taken  leave  of  Caithness,  and  rejoined 
Mr.  Aikman,  James  Haldane  went  to  Sutherland, 
and  found  its  county-town  in  a  dark  and  gloomy  con- 
dition. The  people  were  without  the  preaching  of 
the  gospel,  but  held  prayer-meetings  of  a  somewhat 
peculiar  character,  which  had  been  maintained  since 
the  revolution  of  1688,  when  religion  in  Scotland 
was  in  a  comparatively  prosperous  state.  At  first 
the  people  generally  met  in  the  minister's  house,  or 
in  some  private  house  within  the  parish,  but  at  the 
time  of  which  we  are  now  speaking,  they  assembled 


92  THE  HALDANES. 

in  the  churclies.  The  minister  acted  as  moderator. 
He  began  with  singing,  and  then  prayed.  If  the 
meeting  were  small,  he  read  and  explained  a  portion 
of  Scripture,  and  then  inquired  if  any  person  had  a 
question  or  case  of  conscience  to  propose  for  the 
consideration  of  those  who  were  to  speak  at  the 
meeting.  A  passage  of  Scripture  was  then  read  by 
some  one  present,  and  a  question  relative  to  experi- 
mental religion  founded  upon  it.  The  moderator 
expounded  the  passage,  and  stated  the  question  .as 
intelligibly  as  possible.  The  several  speakers  deliv^ 
ered  their  sentiments  with  an  earnestness  suited  to 
the  importance  of  the  subject,  and  the  moderator 
summed  up  the  whole,  corrected  what  might  have 
been  improperly  stated,  and  gave  his  own  opinion ; 
the  man  who  stated  the  question  never  speaking  to 
it.  Prayer  was  offered  about  the  middle  of  the  ser- 
vice, and  again  at  the  close,  when  another  psalm  was 
sung.  These  meetings,  in  many  places,  were  the  chief 
means  of  sustaining  religion,  and  in  some  churches 
were  always  held  on  the  Friday  preceding  the  admin- 
istration of  the  Lord's  supper.  Experienced  Chris- 
tians did  much  in  this  way  to  promote  the  edification 
of  their  weaker  brethren. 

James  Haldane,  on  whom,  during  this  long  and 
memorable  tour,  the  labor  had  chiefly  fallen,  began 
to  find  that  even  his  physical  energies  were  not  equal 
to  his  zeal.  Mr.  Rate  said  he  had  known  a  louder 
voice,  but  never  one  that  combined  so  much  strength 
and  compass,  but  it  had  been  greatly  overworked. 
In  chapels,  town-halls,  at  market-crosses,  by  the  sea- 


JAMES— NORTHERN  TOUR.        93 

shore,  or  by  the  river's  side,  he  had  preached  to 
crowded  audiences ;  and  even  when  addressing  five 
or  six  thousand  people,  he  commanded  silence,  and 
was  heard  with  attention.  He  often  suffered  much 
from  soreness  of  his  throat,  but  had  never  once  been 
disabled  from  preaching  till  he  had  completed  the 
circuit. 

During  this  tour,  assuredly  the  "  blossoms  did  not 
go  up  as  dust,"  and  the  fruits  cannot  perish.  The 
extent  of  its  usefulness  will  never  be  known  till  the 
number  of  the  elect  shall  be  accomplished,  and  the 
Lord  shall  hasten  his  coming.  Several  years  later 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Cleghorn  named,  as  within  his  own 
knowledge,  in  the  small  town  of  Wick  alone,  forty 
cases  in  which  there  had  been  a  solid  work  of  con- 
version. But  perhaps  its  chief  usefulness  was  in  the 
impulse  given  to  the  various  denominations  of  Chris- 
tians in  Scotland,  which  was  not  the  less  because 
seldom  acknowledged.  The  laborers  sought  not  the 
applause  of  men,  but  sacrificed  all  for  Christ ;  and 
the  services  they  rendered  to  his  cause  will  one  day 
be  acknowledged  in  the  presence  of  angels  and  of 
men. 


U  THE  HALDANES, 


CHAPTER  Y. 

INCIDENTS  CONNECTED  WITH  MESSES.  ROBERT 
AND  JAMES  HALDANE,  TILL  THE  OPENING 
OF  THE  CIRCUS  CHURCH  IN  EDINBURGH.  ^ - 

1797,  1798. 

After  James  Haldane's  return  from  his  first 
northern  torn-,  his  position  was  entirely  changed. 
His  idea  of  leading  a  retired  life  as  a  country  gen- 
tleman was  at  an  end.  He  had  assumed  a  new  char- 
acter, incurred  new  responsibilities,  and  attracted  to 
himself  the  notice  of  all  Scotland.  He  had  "  put  his 
hand  to  the  plough  "  in  the  gospel  field,  and  to  have 
drawn  back  after  such  encouragement  would  have 
been  spiritual  ingratitude  and  rebellion.  The  slum- 
bers of  a  careless  and  worldly  clergy  had  been  bro- 
ken, the  attention  of  the  people  had  been  aroused, 
and  while  the  gospel  had  been  received  by  many,  a 
great  number  began  to  inquire,  "  What  must  we  do 
to  be  saved?"  There  was  great  excitement,  and  not 
a  little  irritation.  But  the  blessing  to  himself,  as 
well  as  to  others,  which  had  attended  James  Hal- 
dane's labors,  was  the  best  evidence  of  his  call  to 
the  work  of  preaching  the  glad  tidings  of  redeeming 
mercy.  The  learned  and  pious  Dr.  Erskine  bore  tes- 
timony to  the  blessing  which  had  previously  attended 
the  labors  of  a  zealous  lay  preacher  in  the  Highlands, 
in  the  conversion  of  many  who  would  not  otherwise 


FIELD-PREACHING.  9i} 

have  listened  to  tlie  gospel ;  and  tlie  celebrated  Mr. 
Cowie  of  Huntly,  familiarly  called  the  Whitefield  of 
the  north,  wrote,  "  No  honest  pastor  has  any  thing  to 
dread  from  the  friendly  visits  of  such  men.  They 
come  not  to  shake  his  influence,  but  to  place  him 
higher  in  the  affections  of  his  people,  by  spreading 
the  light  of  truth  among  them."  The  same  excellent 
minister,  writing  soon  after  this  in  the  "  Missionary 
Magazine,"  a  monthly  p'eriodical  which  had  been 
commenced  by  some  of  Messrs.  Haldane's  friends,  - 
said,  "  I  and  several  other  ministers  heard  Mr.  Hal- 
dane  on  his  late  tour  ;  and  I  confess,  though  I  have 
been  little  short  of  thirty  years  a  minister,  and  have 
heard  many  excellent  preachers,  and  laid  my  hand 
on  many  heads,  I  have  very  seldom  heard  any  thing 
so  much  to  my  satisfaction,  and  nothing  that  could 
exceed  Mr.  Haldane's  discourses.  He  carries  his 
credentials  with  him,  and  needs  not  recommendatory  -^ 
letters.     2  Cor.  3  : 1." 

Under  all  these  circumstances,  it  was  not  prob- 
able that  James  Haldane  should  falter  in  his  course, 
or  that  he  should  not  persevere  in  his  practical  an- 
swer to  Dr.  Carlyle  and  others,  when  they  opposed 
foreign  missions,  and  asked,  "Have  we  not  enough  of 
heathen  at  home?"  He  felt  that  he  had  been  for- 
given much ;  and  having  known  the  Lord  Jesus  as  the 
only  and  almighty  Saviour,  he  spoke  from  the  heart 
to  the  heart,  as  intent  on  rousing  Scotland  from  a 
state  of  spiritual  death. 

In  carrying  out  these  home  missions,  it  was  im- , . 
portant  to  make  a  systematic  effort  to  provide  other* '' 


96  THE  HALDANES. 

preachers  to  continue  and  extend  the  work  which  had 
been  already  begun.  Dr.  Bogue,  their  warm  and  cor- 
dial friend,  had  already  established  a  society  in  his 
own  neighborhood  to  evangelize  the  surrounding  vil- 
lages ;  and  he  was  quite  ready  to  assist  in  forming  a 
plan  to  aid  in  training  young  ardent  Christian  men 
for  the  ministry.  Meetings  were  held  in  Edinburgh 
for  this  purpose,  and  on  Jan.  11,  1798,  a  committee 
was  formed  of  twelve  laymen,  nine  of  whom  were^ 
engaged  in  secular  pursuits.  In  their  first  address 
they  said,  "  It  is  not  our  design  to  form  or  to  extend 
the  influence  of  any  sect.  Our  sole  intention  is  to 
make  known  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
In  employing  itinerants,  schoolmasters,  or  others,  we 
do  not  consider  ourselves  as  conferring  ordination 
upon  them,  or  appointing  them  to  the  pastoral  office. 
We  only  propose,  by  sending  them  out,  to  supply  the 
means  of  grace  wherever  we  perceive  a  deficiency." 

The  cause  was  essentially  served  by  a  sermon  de- 
livered on  behalf  of  Sabbath  evening  schools,  by  the 
Rev.  Greville  Ewing,  then  a  minister  of  the  Estab- 
lished church,  and  editor  of  the  "Missionary  Maga- 
zine," in  which  he  boldly  advocated  field-preaching  : 
"  The  Holy  Spirit  and  the  church  unite  their  voice, 
and  continually  cry  to  sinners.  Come.  This  precious 
invitation  is  so  necessary  to  be  known,  and  known 
without  a  moment's  delay,  that  every  one  that  hear- 
eth  is  commanded  to  repeat  it.  Like  a  multiplying" 
and  never-dying  echo,  'the  joyful  sound'  must  be  on 
all  sides  transmitted  from  one  to  another,  that  in  this 
accepted  time,  this  day  of  salvation,  he  that  is  athirst 


FIELD-PREACHING.  97 

may  come,  and  whosoever  will,  may  take  the  water  of 
life  freely." 

As  the  good  providence  of  God  enabled  James 
Haldane^and  Mr.  Aikman  to  preach  the  gospel  of 
Christ  without  charge,  they  labored  independently 
of  the  society  to  which  we  have  referred,  and  resolved 
in  the  spring  and  summer  of  1798  to  visit  the  south 
and  west  of  Scotland,  on  the  same  errand  of  mercy 
which  had  led  them  to  the  north  in  the  preceding 
year.  They  made  known  this  fact  to  their  brethren, 
whose  sympathies  and  prayers  they  sought  in  their 
undertaking ;  and  having  learned  somewhat  from 
past  experience,  they  added,  "  We  are  resolved  to  con- 
fine ourselves,  in  our  intended  journey,  to  the  declara- 
tion of  what  we  consider  as  the  truth  of  God,  with' 
out  making  personal  remarks  on  any  individual." 
Their  conduct  in  thus  travelling  to  preach  the  gospel 
met  with  the  somewhat  qualified  approbation  of  many 
of  the  clergy,  such  as  Dr.  Erskine,  Dr.  Stuart,  and 
Mr.  Simeon  ;  while  good  John  Newton  went  so  far  as, 
in  writing  to  Mr.  Campbell,  to  say,  "  If  all  were  like- 
minded  with  Messrs.  Haldane  and  Aikman,  I  would 
pray  the  Lord  to  increase  their  number  a  hundred- 
fold. Give  my  love  to  them,  and  tell  them  that  I 
rejoice  in  their  zeal,  their  acceptance,  and  their  suc- 
cess. Why  should  not  the  Orkney  and  the  Shetland 
islands  deserve  attention  as  much  as  the  islands  of 
the  South  sea  ?  I  hope  gospel  zeal  will  in  due  time 
sail  northward  to  Shetland,  and  westward  to  St. 
Kilda  and  all  the  intermediate  islands." 

Just  before  our  itinerants  set  out  on  this  tour, 

Haldane*.  5 


93  THE  HALDANES. 

they  were  called  to  mourn  over  the  decease  of  their 
cordial  friend  the  Countess  of  Leven.  This  venerable 
lady,  in  her  younger  days,  had  encouraged  Whitefield 
boldly  to  denounce  and  rebuke  "hirelings;"  but  age  had 
rendered  her  more  cautious,  though  amidst  her  fears 
she  observed  that,  "  after  all,  any  thing  is  better  than 
dust  gathering  through  drowsiness  and  indolence." 

Setting  out  on  their  journey  in  June,  James  Hal- 
dane  and  John  Aikman  travelled  by  Peebles,  Biggar, 
Hamilton,  Greenock,  etc.,  into  Ayrshire  and  Gallo- 
way, preaching  the  gospel  in  all  these  districts,  and 
finally  completing  their  circuit  home  by  way  of  Ber- 
wick. The  attention  they  excited  in  the  west  and 
south  of  Scotland  was  as  great  as  that  in  the  north. 
To  the  hearts  of  very  many  the  gospel  was  brought 
home  with  power.  In  some  places  they  encountered 
more  opposition  than  before,  and  especially  at  Ayr, 
where  James  Haldane  was  interrupted  in  preaching 
at  the  market-cross,  and  summoned  before  the  magis- 
trates. But  he  had  done  nothing  unlawful,  and  he 
was  not  the  man  to  yield  to  intimidation.  He  was 
threatened  with  imprisonment  if  he  should  preach  on 
the  following  day,  as  had  been  announced;  but  he 
assured  the  magistrates  that  menaces  without  lawful 
sanction  were  of  no  avail.  He  would  not  indeed 
preach  at  the  cross,  or  at  any  place  to  which  just 
exception  might  be  taken,  but  simply  in  preaching  he 
infringed  no  law,  and  on  the  contrary  was  protected 
by  the  Act  of  Toleration.  One  of  the  magistrates 
said,  "  Depend  upon  it,  that  you  will  be  arrested." 
Mr.  Haldane  replied,  "And  depend  upon  it,  sir,  I 


ft 
^  FIELD-PREACHING.  99 

shall  be  punctual  to  my  appointment."  He  was  on 
the  ground  at  the  appointed  time,  and  preached  to  a 
large  audience  without  molestation. 

One  of  the  gentlemen  most  eager  in  opposition 
to  the  preaching  was  a  county  magistrate,  lately 
returned  from  India  with  a  large  fortune.  In  the 
course  of  this  altercation,  having  discovered  who  the 
preacher  was,  and  that  they  had  mutual  friends,  he 
was  disposed  to  treat  him  with  greater  courtesy, 
though  still  persisting  in  the  determination  to  put 
down  field-preaching.  He  appeared  on  the  ground 
next  day  with  some  other  magistrates,  as  if  intending 
to  carry  their  threat  into  force.  James  Haldane  pro- 
ceeded, fearless  of  their  menaces.  They  listened  in 
silence,  offered  no  interruption,  and  went  away  ap- 
parently awed  and  solemnized. 

An  account  of  James  Haldane^s  first  sermon  at 
the  Cross  of  Ayr  was  written  by  the  late  Rev.  John 
Watson,  afterwards  minister  at  Dumfries,  and  for 
many  years  a  very  useful  itinerant  in  and  about 
Edinburgh.  It  will  gratify  the  reader  to  examine 
the  good  man's  account  of  his  own  conversion,  written 
more  than  half  a  century  after  the  event.  We  some- 
what condense  the  narrative :  "  In  the  year  1798," 
writes  Mr.  Watson  to  the  son  of  James  Haldane, 
"  your  late  venerated  father,  along  with  the  late  Mr. 
John  Aikman,  'whose  praise  is  in  all  the  churches,' 
visited  my  native  place,  the  ancient  town  of  Ayr. 
On  their  arrival,  one  Saturday,  intimation  was  made 
by  the  town  bellman  that  Mr.  Haldane  was  to  preach 
at  the  cross  the  same  evening.    I  received  this  infer- 


100  THE  HALDANES. 

mation  from  a  good  old  woman,  who  asked  me  if  I 
would  go  and  hear.  I  replied,  '  No,  no  ;  I  never  go 
to  hear  men  who  preach  in  the  streets  for  bawbees.' 
In  answer  to  this  she  assured  me  'they  were  inde- 
pendent gentlemen,  who  did  na'  preach  for  siller.^ 
This  appeared  to  me  so  extraordinary,  that  I  at  once 
resolved  I  would  go  and  hear  for  myself,  which  I 
accordingly  did.  His  sermon  was  delivered  with 
such  fervor  and  earnestness  as  to  produce  a  deep  im- 
pression on  the  listening  multitude.  Intimation  was 
also  given  that  he  would  again  preach,  with  the  Lord's 
permission,  on  the  same  spot  on  the  following  [Sab- 
bath] morning  at  nine  o'clock.  I  was  at  the  cross, 
with  my  father,  before  the  hour,  where  large  num- 
bers soon  assembled.  The  text  was  John  3:3,'  Ex- 
cept a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom 
of  God.' 

"About  the  middle  of  the  sermon,  the  town  offi- 
cers came  from  the  magistrates,  and  said,  '  You  must 
go  with  us  to  the  council-room,'  where  the  author- 
ities were  then  assembled.  Mr.  Haldane  went,  but 
requested  the  people  to  remain,  as  he  hoped  he  should 
not  be  long  detained.  He  soon  returned,  and  inform- 
ed the  people  that  he  was  commanded  to  preach  no 
more  in  that  place,  but  he  told  them  he  would  finish 
his  discourse.  Before  doing  so,  however,  the  officers 
were  again  sent  to  stop  him;  but  when  they  came 
near,  instead  of  putting  their  orders  into  execution, 
they  stood  respectfully  behind  until  he  had  finished, 
and  they  were  heard  to  say  that  they  were  ashamed 
to  execute  the  orders  against  such  a  gentleman.    I 


FIELD-PREACHING.  lOX 

should  explain  that  the  cross  stood  in  a  corner  of  the 
street  where  there  was  an  open  space,  which  afforded 
accommodation  for  the  assemblage,  so  that  the  thor- 
oughfare was  but  little  interrupted.  On  dismissing 
the  people,  Mr.  Haldane  intimated  that  he  would 
preach  that  evening  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  on 
the  Newton-green.  *  The  report  of  such  treatment, 
gave  general  offence  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  place, 
and  brought  a  still  greater  number  to  hear  him  in 
the  evening.  On  Monday  morning  Mr.  Aikman 
preached  to  a  large  assembly  on  the  town  green.  A 
private  individual,  who  rented  a  part  for  grazing 
cattle,  had  offered  his  portion  of  the  green  for  the 
public  accommodation. 

"Although  more  than  fifty  years  have  run  their 
course  since  these  things  were  done,  the  remembrance 
is  fresh  on  my  memory  as  if  they  were  only  the  trans- , 
actions  of  yesterday.  In  my  imagination  I  see  Mr. 
James  Haldane's  manly  form  and  commanding  atti- 
tude, in  youthful  but  dignified  zeal,  pouring  out  of 
the  fulness  of  his  soul  a  free,  full,  and  everlasting 
salvation  to  the  wondering  multitude,  who  by  the 
expression  of  their  faces  seemed  to  say,  'We  have 
heard  strange  things  to-day.'  And  I  may  well  remem- 
ber that  first  sermon  of  Mr.  Haldane's,  in  1798,  stand- 
ing as  he  did  on  the  steps  of  the  old  cross  of  Ayr,  as 
it  may  be  said  to  have  been  the  pivot  on  which  the 
events  of  my  after-existence  all  turned.  It  was  that 
sermon  which  led  me  to  Christ,  and  eventually  to  the 
relinquishment  of  my  business  and  other  engagements 
in  Ayr.    It  was  that  sermon  which  led  me  to  your 


102        ■  THE  HALDANES 

uncle's  academy  at  Dundee  and  Edinburgh,  and  from 
thence  to  the  pastorate  of  the  Congregational  church 
at  Dumfries." 

While  James  Haldane  and  Mr.  Aikman  were  pros- 
ecuting this  second  successful  tour  to  preach  the  gos- 
pel of  Christ,  a  stranger  appeared  from  England  who 
added  not  a  little  to  the  religious  excitement  of  the 
country.  The  two  preachers  had  gone  to  Langholm, 
in  the  county  of  Roxburgh,  in  the  hope  of  doing  good 
to  the  multitude  assembled  at  the  county  fair.  On  a 
summer's  evening  in  the  last  week  of  July,  when 
walking  on  the  romantic  banks  of  the  river  Esk,  they 
passed  an  English  clergyman,  also  enjoying  the  beau- 
ty of  the  scene,  and  engaged  in  close  conversation 
with  the  minister  of-  the  parish.  His  person  and  his 
errand  were  alike  unknown  to  them.  His  tall,  com- 
manding figure,  piercing  eye,  and  aquiline  nose,  gave 
effect  to  a  countenance  beaming  with  intelligence. 
It  was  none  other  than  the  celebrated  Rev.  Rowland 
Hill,  with  whose  narrative  of  the  interview  the  reader 
will  be  pleased. 

"Having  no  opportunity  to  appoint  different 
stages  at  which  to  preach  between  Carlisle  and  Edin- 
burgh, I  spent  the  Thursday  evening  at  Langholm. 
It  happened  to  be  the  time  of  their  public  fair,  and  a 
sad  example  it  exhibited  on  my  first  night's  lodging 
in  Scotland,  the  opposite  to  what  I  expected  to  find 
of  decency  and  good  behavior  among  the  people 
in  those  parts.  The  fair  was  a  downright  revel; 
dancing,  drunkenness,  and  lasciviousness  seemed  to 
have  been  the  principal  motives  which  had  brought 


.  FIELD-PREACHING.  103 

them  together.  As  the  same  horse,  with  a  light  vehi- 
cle, conveyed  me  and  my  servant  from  stage  to  stage, 
the  next  being  a  long  one,  I  was  under  the  necessity 
of  spending  the  night  in  this  temporary  hell;  but 
that  I  might  enjoy  a  little  respite  from  the  wretched 
tumult,  I  took  my  evening's  walk  out  of  the  town,  by 
the  side  of  a  romantic  river.  Here  I  was  very  kindly 
accosted  by  a  gentleman,  who,  I  conceive,  was  the 
minister  of  the  parish,  and  who  with  much  hospitality 
offered  me  every  accommodation  his  house  could 
afford  from  the  confusion  of  the  town;  but  having 
already  secured  a  private  lodging,  I  declined  his  very 
friendly  offer.  While  we  were  in  conversation, 
Messrs,  James  Haldane  and  Aikman  passed.  These 
gentlemen  were  then  unknown  to  me.  I  was  told  in 
very  candid  language  their  errand  and  design ;  that 
it  was  a  marvellous  circumstance,  quite  a  phenome- 
non, that  an  East  India  captain,  a  gentleman  of  good 
family  and  connections,  should  turn  out  an  itinerant 
preacher  ;  that  he  should  travel  from  town  to  town, 
and  all  against  his  own  interest  and  character.  This 
information  was  enough  for  me.  I  immediately  sought 
out  the  itinerants.  "When  I  inquired  for  them  of  the 
landlady  of  the  inn,  she  told  me  she  supposed  I  meant 
the  two  priests  who  were  at  her  house ;  but  she  could 
not  satisfy  me  of  what  religion  they  were.  The  two 
'priests,  however,  and  myself  soon  met,  and  to  our 
mutual  satisfaction  passed  the  evening  together." 
Mr.  Hill  on  the  next  morning  went  forward  towards 
Edinburgh,  while  his  two  friends  remained  to  com- 
plete their  labor  of  love. 


104  THE  HALDANES.  ^    . 

Little  was  it  supposed  by  any  who  met  in  ttiat 
evening  party,  that  Mr.  Hill  and  themselves,  with 
others,  were  about  to  commence  a  course  of  labors 
having  a  mighty  influence  on  the  highest  interests  of 
the  world,  and  the  results  of  which  will  extend  into 
eternity.  A  party  of  Christian  gentlemen,  all  of 
whom  were  members  of  the  Established  church,  were 
one  evening  assembled  in  Edinburgh,  among  whom 
was  our  friend  John  Campbell,  of  whom  the  reader 
has  already  heard.  They  had  been  speaking  of  a 
scheme  which  that  gentleman  had  formed  for  the 
improvement  of  Africa,  when,  with  his  inimitable 
simplicity  and  directness,  he  said  that  he  had  another 
scheme  in  his  head  as  important  as  the  African  one. 
"  What  is  that  ?"  asked  Robert  Haldane.  "  The  Tab- 
ernacle in  London  is  a  large  place  of  worship,  sup- 
plied by  popular  ministers  of  different  denominations 
from  the  country,  each  preaching  for  a  month.  The 
crowds  it  attracts,  and  the  good  it  has  done  are  very 
great."  His  narrative  was  closed  by  a  proposal  to 
have  a  similar  house. of  worship  in  Edinburgh.  All 
agreed  that  such  a  thing  was  desirable.  "Who  could 
be  got  to  supply  it?"  Mr.  Campbell  suggested  Row- 
land Hill  and  other  English  ministers.  "  Could  a 
large  place  be  obtained  for  a  year  on  trial,  before 
proceeding  to  builds"  "Yes,  the  use  of  the  circus 
may  be  got  for  Sabbaths,  as  the  Relief  congregation, 
who  have  had  it  while  their  new  place  was  building, 
are  on  the  eve  of  leaving  it."  With  his  usual  promp- 
titude, Mr.  Robert  Haldane  turned  to  a  lawyer  who 
was  present,  saying,  "  Mr.  Dymock,  will  you  inquire 


,4 


SALE  OF  AIRTHREY.  105 

about  it  to-morrow,  and  if  it  be  to  let,  take  it  for  a 
year?" 

It  was  secured  the  next  day ;  Mr.  Hill  was  invit- 
ed ;  he  came ;  the  details  we  will  give  hereafter.  On 
one  occasion  he  made  a  collection  for  the  city  charity 
workhouse,  which  amounted  to  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars,  almost  entirely  composed  of  half- 
pence and  penny  pieces,  which  were  taken  away,  we 
believe,  in  a  wheelbarrow.  During  Mr.  Hill's  stay 
in  Edinburgh  many  persons  were  converted,  some  of 
whom  had  been  grossly  immoral.  This  made  much 
noise  in  the  neighborhood,  so  that  even  some  soldiers 
attended  the  meeting,  at  that  time  a  very  unusual 
thing.  A  woman  was  overheard  to  say  to  one  of  her 
neighbors,  "  Oh,  sir,  what  will  become  of  us  now, 
when  the  very  soldiers  are  beginning  to  pray?" 

About  this  time  Robert  Haldane  sold  his  beauti- 
ful estate  at  Airthrey.  His  own  account  of  this  affair 
is  exceedingly  suggestive.  "For  some  time  after  this 
I  did  not  lay  aside  my  endeavors  to  get  out  to  Ben- 
gal, and  in  the  meanwhile  was  busied  in  selling  my 
estate,  that  there  might  be  no  delay  on  my  part  if 
obstructions  from  without  should  be  removed.  I 
accordingly  at  length  found  a  purchaser,  and  with 
great  satisfaction  left  a  place  in  the  beautifying  and 
improving  of  which  my  mind  had  been  once  much 
engrossed.  In  that  transaction  I  sincerely  rejoice  to 
this  hour,  although  disappointed  in  getting  out  to 
India.  I  gave  up  a  place  and  a  situation  which  con- 
tinually presented  objects  calculated  to  excite  and  to 
gratify  'the  lust  of  the  eye  and  the  pride  of  life.' 


?*: 


106  THE  HALDANES. 

Instead  of  being  engaged  in  sucli  poor  matters,  my 
time  is  more  at  my  command,  and  I  find  my  power  of 
usefully  applying  property  very  considerably  increas- 
ed. I  can  truly  say  I  experience  the  accomplishment 
of  the  gracious  promise,  that  leaving  houses  and 
lands,  (though  in  a  very  restricted  sense,)  as  I  trust ' 
for  the  gospel's  sake  alone,  and  what  I  esteem  my 
duty,  I  have  received  manifold  more,  though,  as  it  is 
added,  'with  persecutions.' " 

Two  facts  relating  to  the  disposal  of  his  estate 
may  yet  be  referred  to  as  instructive.  He  himself 
used  to  relate,  that  after  he  had  resolved  to  sell  Air- 
threy,  he  sent  for  Mr.  Morison  of  Aloa  to  survey  the 
estate  and  make  an  estimate  of  its  value.  On  the 
morning  Mr.  Morison  arrived  to  begin  his  work,  the 
chapter  read  in  the  usual  course  of  family  worship 
was  the  second  of  Ecclesiastes,  including  the  passage, 
"  I  made  me  great  works ;  I  builded  me  houses ;  I 
planted  me  vineyards;  I  made  me  gardens  and 
orchards,  and  I  planted  trees  in  them  of  all  kinds  of 
fruits :  I  made  me  pools  of  water."  It  was  impossi- 
ble not  to  be  struck  with  the  coincidence. 

The  other  incident  was  truly  characteristic  of 
Robert  Haldane.  Dr.  Innes,  then  the  minister  of 
Stirling,  relates  that  on  the  evening  when  he  had  the 
immediate  prospect  before  him  of  quitting  for  ever 
his  paternal  estate,  Mr.  Haldane  assembled  all  his 
domestics,  including  the  gardeners  and  laborers,  in 
the  servants'  hall,  where  supper  was  provided  for 
them  and  their  families.  On  that  occasion,  after 
attending  to  their  comforts,  he  addressed  them,  and 


-ib^! 


REV.  ROWLAND  HILL.  101 

took  a  kind  farewell  of  them  all,  asked  tliem  to  for- 
give any  thing  in  which  he  had  failed  in  his  duties  as 
a  master,  and  expressed  his  desire  for  their  temporal 
and  eternal  welfare.  For  some  of  those  who  were 
old  or  infirm,  or  had  been  long  on  the  estate,  he 
secured  small  pensions.  There  was  one  aged  person 
who  was  much  attached  to  the  family,  who  could  not 
bear  the  disruption  of  the  tie,  whose  forebodings 
were  dissipated  by  her  own  death  on  the  very  day 
the  family  left  Airthrey. 

When  Rowland  Hill  met  James  Haldane  and  Mr. 
Aikman  at  Langholm,  as  already  related,  he  was  on 
his  way  to  preach  the  first  sermon  at  the  circus,  ac- 
cording to  the  plan  which  had  been  proposed  by  Mr. 
Campbell.  On  the  28th  of  July  he  arrived  at  Edin- 
burgh, and  as  Eobert  Haldane  had  then  no  residence 
in  that  city,  he  was  received,  as  his  journal  said,  "  at 
the  hospitable  abode  of  Mr.  James  Haldane,  in  George- 
street,  where  nothing  was  wanting  but  more  gratitude 
and  thankfulness  on  my  part  for  such  a  kind  and 
affectionate  reception."  Mrs.  James  Haldane  fully 
appreciated  the  worth  of  the  honored  guest  whom  in 
her  husband's  absence  she  entertained,  and  always 
spoke  with  the  highest  pleasure  of  this  memorable 
visit.  The  importance  of  the  subject  demands  a  some- 
what full  account  of  Mr.  Hill's  labors.  Speaking  in 
his  journal,  und^r  the  date  of  July  29,  1798,  he  says, 
"  Preached  for  the  first  time  in  the  circus.  The  build- 
ing is  large,  and  is  supposed  to  contain  more  than  two 
thousand  five  hundred  people.  It  gave  me  pleasure 
to  find  that  expounding,  or  lecturing,  as  it  is  there 


108  THE  HALDANES. 

called,  is  the  general  practice  in  Scotland.  The  rich- 
ness and  glory  that  rest  upon  the  language  of  inspira- 
tion are  peculiar  to  itself;  and  I  have  always  found 
that  weighty,  warm,  applicatory  remarks  immediately 
therefrom,  come  with  a  peculiar  influence  to  the  heart. 
Surely,  therefore,  nothing  less  than  a  whole  chapter, 
or  at  least  a  considerable  portion,  should  be  selected 
for  these  occasions.  We  are  never  so  assured  that 
we  make  people  wise  unto  salvation,  as  when  we  lead 
them  to  the  pure  word  of  God  itself. 

"  My  morning  subject  was  the  prayer  of  Moses, 
'If  thy  presence  go  not  with  me,  carry  us  not  up 
hence.'  Exod.  33 :  15.  I  preached  to  the  people  the 
feelings  of  my  heart.  Without  our  God  we  can  do 
nothing.  A  much  larger  congregation  attended  the 
evening  service,  and  I  took  another  subject  just  suited 
to  the  frame  of  my  own  mind,  1  Cor.  1 :  22-24 ;  and 
I  employed  some  time  in  showing  Paul's  method  in 
treating  his  proud  Corinthian  hearers.'' 

On  the  following  Thursday  Mr.  Hill  preached  to 
two  thousand  people  at  Leith,  in  the  open  air,  from 
the  text,  "  The  Son  of  man  is  come  to  save  that  which 
was  lost,"  Matt.  18 :  11;  and  he  adds  to  his  account  of 
the  sermon,  "  Plain  language  is  the  only  profitable  lan- 
guage for  sinners  like  these."  On  Friday  he  preached 
to  four  thousand  people  on  the  Calton  hill.  He  ob- 
serves in  his  journal,  "  The  loveliness  of  the  situation, 
the  stillness  of  the  evening,  and  the  seriousness  of  the 
people,  produced  all  that  was  desirable.  Oh  for  more 
of  the  life  and  unction  and  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God 
on  my  soul,  that  I  may  not  disgrace  the  blessed  cause 


REV.  ROWLAND  HILL.  10$ 

I  wisli  to  uphold."  Such  was  the  commencement  of 
preaching  in  the  circus,  which  produced  so  much 
excitement,  but  was  so  little  intended  to  interfere 
with  the  stated  places  of  worship,  that  the  early  ser- 
vice began  in  the  morning  at  seven  o^clock,  and  an- 
other in  the  evening  at  six  o'clock. 

During  the  week  Mr.  Hill,  accompanied  by  Robert 
Haldane,  also  visited  Stirling,  Crieff,  Dunkeld,  Perth, 
and  Kilross,  and  having  returned  to  Edinburgh  on 
Saturday,  he  preached  again  in  the  circus  on  the  Sab- 
bath, and  on  Monday  he  set  off  with  Mr.  Haldane, 
so  as  to  be  in  time  to  preach  in  the  evening  in  the 
churchyard  of  the  old  cathedral  of  Glasgow.  He 
remarked  in  his  journal,  "The  scene  was  solemn. 
Underneath  were  the  remains,  I  may  venture  to  say, 
of  millions  waiting  for  the  resurrection.  Here  I 
stood  on  a  widely  extended  space,  covered  or  nearly 
covered  with  the  living — all  immortal  souls,  five  thou- 
sand, I  should  suppose,  at  the  least.  What  solemn 
work  to  address  such  multitudes !  Who  is  sufficient 
for  these  things  ?  I  attempted  to  illustrate  the  pas- 
sage, '  Thy  God  thy  glory.'  Isa.  40  :  19.  Could  we 
but  explain  to  sinners,  and  make  them  feel  that  God, 
a  God  in  Christ,  is  their  glory,  and  that  it  is  their 
privilege  to  glorify  God  in  return,  we  should  have 
more  than  abundant  recompense  for  all  our  little  toil 
ill  a  work  so  glorious." 

Mr.  Hill  returned  to  Edinburgh  on  Saturday  even- 
ing, in  time  to  preach  at  the  circus  at  seven  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  again  at  eleven  o'clock,  and  in  the 
"evening  under  the  canopy  of  heaven.    He  says,  "  It 


110  THE  HALDANES. 

was  now  quite  out  of  the  question  to  preacli  within 
doors  on  the  Lord's  day  evenings.  On  the  Calton 
hill  I  addressed  the  most  solemn  congregation  I  have 
seen  for  many  years — ^fifteen  thousand,  on  the  most 
moderate  computation,  were  said  to  attend.  I  know 
on  these  occasions  one  principal  aim  should  be  to 
alarm  sinners  ;  this  I  attempted  from  Mark  8 :36,  37, 
from  the  consideration  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
and  the  awfulness  of  eternity."  His  account  of  his 
last  Lord's  day  in  Edinburgh  during  this  visit  fur- 
nishes so  admirable  a  picture  of  Rowland  Hill,  his 
earnestness,  his  sincerity,  his  zeal,  though  with  some- 
what of  quaintness,  that  the  reader  will  be  glad  to 
see  it.  It  was  written  in  his  journal  under  the  date 
of  September  2 :      .  • .  -     > 

"My  last  Sabbath  in  Edinburgh.  The  circus 
could  scarcely  contain  the  early  or  noon  congrega- 
tion. I  conceived  the  most  serious  part  of  the  .hear- 
ers came  together  like  those  of  old,  '  Early  will  I  seek 
thee.'  I  therefore  dealt  with  them  from  that  fine 
prayer  of  the  apostle  Paul,  Eph.  3: 16-19.  Eeader, 
mark  that  prayer :  who  can  tell  the  worth  of  a  Bible, 
if  it  were  only  for  the  sake  of  those  four  verses ;  who 
can  describe  the  blessedness  of  the  man  who  feels  and 
enjoys  its  sacred  contents  ? 

"  At  the  second  service,  I  preached  from  Genesis 
49  :  22-24,  on  Joseph's  blessing.  I  thought  the  sub- 
ject would  well  suit  the  lecture.  It  is  time  that  sim- 
ple-hearted ministers  should  bestir  themselves.  Once 
was  I  young,  but  now  I  begin  to  be  old.  I  never  had 
too  much  of  the  seraph,  but  always  too  much  of  the 


REV.  ROWLAND  HILL.  Ill 

snail,  having  been  shot  at  by  many  an  angry  archer : 
though  I  fell  so  short,  I  was  willing  to  encourage  a 
young  society  to  itinerate  far  and  wide.  May  their 
zeal,  guided  by  the  Saviour's  wisdom,  surprise  the 
north;  that  many  a  dry  formalist  may  blush  for 
shame  under  the  humiliating  reflection,  how  little  has 
been  done  by  them,  while  so  much  has  been  accom- 
plished by  those  they  despise  !  May  these  be  blessed 
with  the  boldness  of  the  lion,  the  meekness  of  the 
lamb,  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent,  and  the  harmlessness 
of  the  dove.  '     -  ; 

"  On  the  evening  of  the  day,  I  preached  my  last 
sermon  save  one  in  this  vicinity,  on  the  Calton  hill, 
to  an  audience  of  many  thousands.  Shame  forbade 
me  a  thousand  times  to  take  a  text,  once  the  language 
of  Paul,  Acts  20 :  24.  I  believe,  however,  that  a  spark 
was  felt  of  the  same  flame  which  he  enjoyed,  therefore 
I  ventured.  Had  I  a  thousand  lives,  I  trust  they 
would  be  spent  in  the  Lord's  blessed  work.  I  dare 
not  be  fettered  by  human  laws  while  I  am  under  a 
divine  command  to  preach  the  gospel  to  every  crea- 
ture, and  to  spend  and  be  spent  for  Jesus  Christ." 

On  the  following  morning,  accompanied  by  Robert 
Haldane,  Mr.  Hill  set  out  for  his  summer  residence  in 
Gloucestershire,  preaching  on  his  way  at  a  number  of 
places,  both  in  Scotland  and  England.  The  journey 
afforded  Mr.  Haldane  a  full  opportunity  of  thinking 
of  Whitefield's  plans  for  the  revival  of  religion  in 
England,  and  he  resolved,  after  consulting  with  his 
friend  Dr.  Bogue,  entirely  to  relinquish  the  mission 
to  India,  to  build  a  number  of  houses  of  worship  in 


112  THE  HALDANES. 

Scotland,  and  to  educate  young  preachers  to  labor 
in  them. 

The  reader  has  observed  that  Rowland  Hill  says, 
in  his  account  of  his  last  Sabbath  in  Edinburgh,  dur- 
ing this  visit  of  1798,  "  Now  I  begin  to  be  old ;"  but 
little  did  he  suppose  that  his  labors  for  Christ  and 
his  church  would  yet  continue  for  nearly  thirty-five 
years.  Perhaps  no  man  of  the  age  was  so  useful  in 
the  conversion  of  souls,  as  assuredly  no  man  preached 
so  many  sermons,  or  engaged  in  carrying  out  so  many 
plans  for  advancing  the  holy  cause.  He  paid  a  sub- 
sequent visit  to  Scotland,  but  party  spirit  had  then 
become  high,  and  the  controversy  between  him  and 
the  leaders  of  the  church  of  Scotland,  sadly  hindered 
his  usefulness.  Everywhere  else  he  was  eminently 
successful,  preaching  to  almost  the  last  Sabbath  of  his 
life,  which  ended  in  his  eighty-ninth  year,  in  1833. 

Before  we  close  this  notice  of  Mr.  Hill,  we  will 
quote  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  W.  B.  Sprague  the  informa- 
tion he  obtained,  and  the  opinion  he  formed  of  him  in 
several  interviews  held  with  him  in  1828 :  "I  have 
never  seen  another  man  to  whom  Rowland  Hill  could, 
on  the  whole,  be  likened.  He  was  the  son  of  a  bar- 
onet, and  there  was  nobility  impressed  upon  his  whole 
appearance  and  bearing  and  character ;  and  yet  no 
man  labored  more  zealously  than  he  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  humbler  classes.  He  had  an  exuberance 
of  wit  and  fun,  and  yet  it  was  evident  he  lived  almost 
continually  amidst  the  realities  of  the  future.  He  was 
gentle  and  mild  and  winning,  and  yet,  when  occasion 
required,  he  could  come  down  like  a  thunderbolt,  or 


REV.  ROWLAND  HILL.  113 

an  avalanclie.  He  was  one  of  the  few  original  char- 
acters that  appear  in  an  age^  and  he  performed  a  most 
important  mission;  but  whoever  should  attempt  to 
imitate  him,  would  be  sure  to  come  out  a  finished 
specimen  of  the  absurd  and  ridiculous." 

Let  us  in  justice  to  our  excellent  friend  of  many 
years,  add  here  one  sentence.  Tales  have  been  told  of 
him  tending  not  a  little  to  disparage  both  him  and 
the  cause  he  served.  The  reader  may  settle  it  in  his 
mind  that  Rowland  Hill  was  the  complete  Christian 
gentleman,  and  whatever  may  be  said  of  him  incon- 
sistent with  such  a  character  cannot  be  true. 


^ 


i 


114  THE  HALDANES. 


CHAPTER  YI. 

FROM  THE  ADOPTION  OF  THE  PLAN  OF  A  SEM- 
INARY FOR  PREACHERS,  TO  MR.  JAMES  HAL- 
DANE'S  RETURN  FROM  HIS  SECOND  TOUR  IN 
THE  NORTH. 

1799. 

The  Circus  cliurch  in  Edinburgh  was  intended  to 
be  supplied  by  a  number  of  popular  English  preach- 
ers, chiefly  of  the  Congregational  body ;  and  when 
Robert  Haldane  visited  England  in  company  with 
Rowland  Hill,  he  engaged  a  number  of  excellent  min- 
isters to  follow  each  other  in  this  work.  He  soon,  how- 
ever, discovered  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  a  regular 
supply ;  nor  could  the  society  we  have  already  spoken 
of  as  existing  in  Edinburgh  for  the  evangelization  of 
Scotland,  find  suitable  evangelists  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  their  purpose.  Under  these  circumstances, 
when  in  England,  in  1798,  Robert  Haldane  determined 
on  the  plan,  to  which  we  have  referred,  of  educating 
a  number  of  pious  young  men  for  the  ministry,  who 
might  be  selected,  as  in  primitive  times,  from  the  vari- 
ous occupations  of  life,  and  who,  having  first  given 
evidence  of  piety  and  promising  talents,  might  receive 
the  instruction  they  needed.  With  the  exception  of 
his  brother,  the  only  person  to  whom  he  first  commu- 
nicated his  intention  was  Mr.  Campbell ;  to  whom  he 
says,  in  a  letter  dated  Oct.  6,  1798,  "I  intend  to  give 
one  year's  education  to  ten  or  twelve  persons,  of  any 


EDINBURGH  TABERNACLE.        115 

age  that  may  be  fit  for  it,  under  Mr.  Bogue,  with  a 
view  to  the  ministry.  Will  you  and  my  brother  be 
looking  out  for  suitable  persons  to  be  ready  by  the 
time  I  return  ?"  Such  was  the  origin  of  the  semina- 
ries which  afterwards  existed  on  so  large  a  scale. 

Not  less  important  was  the  other  plan,  to  which 
we  have  already  alluded,  which  was  closely  connect- 
ed with  the  seminary  system — the  erection  of  places 
of  worship,  resembling  Whitefield's  English  taberna- 
cles, in  different  parts  of  Scotland.  He  reckoned 
that  he  might  depend  on  his  brother  to  supply  the 
Edinburgh  tabernacle,  while  possibly  Mr.  Ewing  and 
Dr.  Innes  might  occupy  two  similar  places  in  Glas- 
gow and  Dundee.  The  announcement  of  this  plan 
added  greatly  to  the  excitement  already  existing  in 
the  public  mind.  Shortly  after  this  time  Messrs. 
Ewing  and  Innes  left  the  Establishment,  and  about 
twelve  persons  resolved  to  organize  themselves  into 
a  Congregational  church,  of  which  they  called  James 
Haldane  to  be  pastor.  Hitherto  he  had  aspired  to 
no  other  office  than  that  of  an  evangelist,  preaching 
in  the  villages  around  Edinburgh,  occasionally  mak- 
ing distant  and  extensive  tours,  and  more  recently 
drawing  round  him  crowds  of  attentive  listeners  on 
the  Calton  hill.  But  having  given  himself  wholly  to 
the  study  of  the  word  of  God,  "meditating  upon  these 
things,"  he  had  become  "  mighty  in  the  Scriptures  f 
his  profiting  had  appeared  to  all ;  while  his  unction 
in  prayer,  the  solemn  and  unpretending  eloquence  of 
his  direct  and  powerful  addresses,  his  persevering  zeal 
and  success,  his  unwearied  attendance  on  the  sick, 


116  THE  HALDANES.      ' 

and  his  general  consistency  of  conduct,  marked'  him 
out  as  a  man  "full  of  faith  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost," 
well  qualified  for  the  pastoral  office.  It  was  not, 
however,  without  serious  deliberation  that  he  accept- 
ed the  call,  nor  till  he  had  stated  his  own  conviction 
that  he  was  better  adapted  for  the  office  of  an  evan- 
gelist. He  at  length  yielded  to  what  he  deemed  the 
will  of  God,  and  assumed  a  post  from  the  labors  and 
responsibilities  of  which  he  never  shrunk  for  the 
remaining  years  of  his  active  and  eventful  life. 

No  one  acquainted  with  all  the  facts  of  the  case 
will  attempt  to  draw  an  argument  from  these  pro- 
ceedings in  favor  of  an  uneducated  ministry,  for 
James  Haldane  was  assuredly  a  well-educated  man 
and  a  most  diligent  student.  It  is  quite  certain,  how- 
ever, that  he  never  attempted  to  display  learning  in 
the  pulpit.  As  has  been  said  of  a  minister  in  this 
country,  so  may  it  be  said  of  him,  "Every  truth  he 
presented  had  the  perspicuity  and  force  of  an  intui- 
tive axiom,  and  conclusions  were  so  easily  drawn  by 
every  hearer,  that  the  speaker  would  have  lost  time 
by  uttering  a  '  therefore'  or  urging  a  demonstration. 
He  well  knew  that  the  traveller  in  a  tornado  is  not 
occupied  with  the  philosophy  of  pneumatics,  nor  the 
drowning  mariner  with  any  theory  of  the  tides. 
Christless  sinners  could  not  trifle  under  his  preach- 
ing, for  he  fully  roused  their  attention  to  their  dan- 
ger, and  then  earnestly  pointed  them  to  a  crucified 
Saviour."  Nor  did  James  Haldane  less  feel  what  has 
since  been  well  expressed  by  Archbishop  Whately, 
that  "many  are  misled  by  their  admiration  of  what  is 


EDINBURGH  TABERNACLE.       lit 

called  a  powerful  discourse,  forgetting  that  is  the 
most  powerful  which  best  effects  the  object  proposed. 
The  power  of  a  sample  of  gunpowder,  or  of  a  piece 
of  ordnance,  is  tested,  not  by  the  loudness,  but  by 
the  impression  made  on  the  target."  Judged  by  the 
standard  of  great  results,  James  Haldane  was  truly  a 
powerful  preacher. 

Almost  immediately  after  the  organization  of  the 
Circus  church,  more  than  three  hundred  persons  de- 
sired to  unite  in  its  communion. »  Not  a  few  of  these 
were  first  led  to  Christ  by  the  preaching,  in  and 
around  Edinburgh,  of  James  Haldane  himself  or 
Eowland  Hill.  Mr.  Haldane's  ordination  took  place 
on  Lord's  day,  Feb.  3,  1799.  It  was  an  occasion  of 
solemn  influence,  and  deep  was  the  impression  it  pro- 
duced upon  crowds  of  spectators.  To  the  notes  he 
prepared  for  use  on  this  important  occasion  we  have 
already  been  indebted  for  the  facts  of  his  conversion, 
and  we  now  simply  present  a  short  extract  as  to  the 
manner  in  which  he  proposed  to  discharge  the  duties 
of  his  calling.  He  says,  "A  minister,  in.  an  especial 
manner,  should  habitually  cherish  a  spirit  of  humility 
and  dependence  on  the  Head  of  the  church.  His  sit- 
uation and  temptations  are  peculiar:  he  m.ust  not 
only  keep  his  body  under,  and  bring  it  into  subjec- 
tion, lest,  preaching  to  others,  he  be  himself  cast 
away ;  but  he  must  watch  over  the  flock  over  which 
the  Holy  Ghost  has  made  him  overseer  as  one  who 
must  give  an  account.  I  do  not  expect  my  trials  to 
be  few,  especially  if  the  Lord  should  honor  me  in  the 
work.     I  desire  to  give  myself  to  the  word  of  God 


118  THE  HALDANES. 

and  prayer,  to  study  the  Scriptures  with  attention, 
that  my  doctrine  may  ever  be  agreeable  to  the  word 
of  God,  and  that  I  may  rightly  divide  it,  giving  a 
portion  to  all  who  may  attend  my  ministry.  It  shall 
be  my  study  to  comfort  the  feeble-minded,  and  to  lead 
the  weak  to  the  Rock  of  ages.  I  shall  endeavor  to 
alarm  the  careless,  reprove  the  backslider,  and  to 
edify  the  body  of  Christ.  To  instruction  I  shall 
endeavor  to  add  my  example  in  every  Christian  grace, 
never  rendering  railing  for  railing,  but  in  meekness 
instructing  those  who  oppose  the  truth.  I  shall  wish 
to  act  with  tenderness  to  all  who  profess  the  faith  of 
the  gospel,  to  possess  much  of  that  love  which  think- 
eth  no  evil,  and  which  covereth  a  multitude  of  sins ; 
to  bear  with  those  who  are  weak  in  the  faith,  and 
may  manifest  an  improper  spirit  on  any  occasion,  to 
point  out  their  error  in  love  and  meekness,  and  to  be 
patient  and  gentle  towards  all  men;  to  study  to  get 
acquainted  with  the  cases  of  those  to  whom  I  min- 
ister, that  I  may  speak  to  them  a  word  in  season,  in 
public  or  private ;  to  vi^it  the  sick  and  afflicted,  and 
sympathize  with  all,  but  especially  with  the  friends  of 
Jesus,  as  members  of  the  same  body;  to  study  to 
maintain  the  ordinances  of  Christ  pure  ;  to  study  that 
discipline  may  be  maintained,  without  preferring  one 
above  another;  to  exhort  or  reprove,  agreeably  to 
the  commands  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  and  espe- 
cially to  endeavor  to  cultivate  a  spirit  of  love,  not 
only  among  our  own  members,  but  in  myself,  and 
then  towards  every  disciple  of  Jesus." 

The  solemn  services  of  the  ordination,  it  is  said^ 


EDINBURGH  TABERNACLE.       119 

extended  to  nearly  five  hours,  but  a  crowded  audi- 
ence showed  the  most  serious  attention,  and  not  a 
few  appeared  deeply  affected.  Mrs.  Matheson,  the 
excellent  biographer  of  her  father  the  Rev.  Greville 
Ewing,  says  of  the  state  of  things  among  the  people 
at  that  time,  "With  many  souls  it  was  the  season  of 
first  love  ;  and  even  those  who  had  long  known  the 
grace  of  God,  looked  back  to  it  ever  after  as  a  time 
of  life  from  the  dead.  There  was  a  fervor  of  spirit, 
a  love  to  each  other  for  the  truth's  sake,  a  delight  in 
all  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel,  which  made  it  per- 
haps more  resemble  the  pentecostal  period  in  Jerusa- 
lem than  any  which  has  succeeded  it.  The  fear  of 
singularity  and  the  love  of  the  world  seemed  alike 
for  the  time  to  have  lost  their  power.  The  work  of 
God  in  seeking  the  conversion  of  sinners  was  made 
the  business  of  life.  The  multitudes  also  who  crowd- 
ed to  the  Circus,  the  zeal  and  activity  of  those  en- 
gaged in  Sabbath-schools  and  various  other  useful 
institutions,  the  intelligence  received  from  others  sent 
forth  to  more  distant  labors — all  these  were  animat- 
ing in  the  highest  degree.  They  furnished  in  abun- 
dance topics  for  the  most  improving  conversation, 
while  they  became  alike  the  source  of  thanksgiving 
and  encouragement  in  prayer.  To  warn,  to  beseech, 
or  to  exhort  sinners  was  a  spontaneous,  delightful 
employment ;  to  describe  the  blessedness  of  *  peace 
with  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,'  was  but  to 
express  the  overflowings  of  their  actual  experience. 
And  to  crown  all,  they  were  at  peace  among  them- 
selves." 


120  THE  HALDANES. 

"We  have  already  intimated  that  an  important  plan 
of  Robert  Haldane  for  the  advancement  of  religion, 
was  the  establishment  of.  a  seminary  for  the  prepara- 
tion of  pious  young  men  for  the  ministry.  Some  of 
the  first  students  were  placed  under  the  care  of  Mr. 
Ewing  of  Glasgow,  and  among  the  first  of  these  was 
the  venerable  Dr.  Archibald  Maclay,  now  of  New 
York ;  another  company  were  sent  to  Gosport,  and 
their  studies  were  directed  by  the  excellent  Dr. 
Bogue.  Mr.  Cowie  of  Huntley  also  sent  "  four  of  his 
spiritual  children."  The  young  men  were  all  main- 
tained at  Robert  Haldane's  expense,  ascending  to  a 
scale  drawn  up  for  each  married  and  unmarried  stu- 
dent. Before  their  admission  they  underwent  a  strict 
examination  as  to  their  qualifications;  and  next  to 
the  importance  of  engaging  in  the  work  on  purely 
Christian  principles,  nothing  was  more  strongly  im- 
pressed upon  their  minds  than  that  there  was  no  design 
to  elevate  them  in  their  social  position — that  it  was 
not  intended  to*  make  gentlemen  of  such  among  them 
as  were  mechanics  or  laborers,  but  catechists  or 
preachers ;  and  that  after  their  term  of  preparatory 
study  had  closed,  they  must  not  look  to  their  patron 
for  support,  but  to  the  leadings  of  divine  Providence 
and  their  own  exertions. 

It  will  be  readily  believed  that  these  remarkable 
movements,  especially  as  every  one  saw  they  were 
only  introductory  to  still  greater  progress,  excited  no 
small  attention,  and  that  while  not  a  few  rejoiced  and 
fervently  prayed  for  their  success,  many  others  made 
opposition  in  various  forms,  and  sought  to  arrest  the 


'V'^/"  REV.  JAMES  KENNEDY.  121 

•.a 

whole  movement.  But  the  hand  of  the  Lord  was 
in  it. 

It  is  believed  that  of  the  three  hundred  young  men 
who  received  more  or  less  preparatory  training  for 
the  Christian  ministry,  at  an  expense  of  not  less  than 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  Robert  Haldane,  not 
more  than  two  now  survive.  One  of  the  last  who 
died  was  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Henderson,  once  a  distin- 
guished laborer  in  the  Bible  cause  in  Iceland,  but 
more  recently  the  president  of  Highbury  college,  Lon- 
don. The  only  present  survivor,  except  Dr.  Maclay, 
is  the  Rev.  James  Kennedy  of  Inverness.  The  jubi- 
lee of  the  ministry  of  the  last-named  servant  of  Christ 
was  celebrated  in  the  church  edifice  he  had  occupied 
for  thirty  years,  in  the  month  of  July,  1856,  and  from 
the  details  then  given,  we  glean  a  few  facts  illustra- 
tive of  the  manner  in  which  the  great  Head  of  the 
church  carries  on  his  cause  in  our  world. 

This  venerable  man,  the  father  of  an  eminent  min- 
ister in  the  English  metropolis,  and  of  an  equally 
distinguished  missionary  at  Benares,  in  India,  was 
ordained  in  1806,  pastor  of  a  small  Independent 
church  at  Aberfeldy,  in  Perthshire.  The  circum- 
stances of  his  little  flock  were  at  that  time  peculiarly 
distressing.  Neighboring  proprietors  threatened  those 
who  dared  to  associate  themselves  with  the  new  sect 
with  the  loss  of  their  farms,  and  sometimes  put  the 
threat  into  execution.  On  one  summer  Sabbath  even- 
ing, the  congregation  was  assembled  in  a  field  on  the 
banks  of  the  Tay,  and  the  preacher  had  commenced 
his  discourse,  when  the  offended  laird  rushed  through 

Haldanes.  6 


*4% 


122  THE  HALDANES. 

the  crowd,  took  hold  of  the  preacher  by  the  collar, 
and  dragged  him  off  the  field  to  the  highway.  But 
there  the  preacher  took  his  standi  and  said,  "  I  am 
now  on  the  king's  highway  ;  you  had  better  take  care 
what  you  do."  Ground  on  which  to  erect  a  house  of 
worship  was  refused,  but  at  length  a  dwelling-house 
was  built,  and  one  of  its  floors  was  devoted  to  wor- 
ship. This  little  Bethel  was  soon  crowded  with 
warm-hearted  Highlanders,  who  not  unfrequently 
were  compelled  by  want  of  room  to  adjourn  to  the 
village-green  to  listen  to  the  words  of  eternal  life. 

In  a  very  few  years,  the  labors  of  this  man  of 
God  told  with  great  effect  on  a  large  district  of  coun- 
try around,  and  among  other  places  at  Glenlyon, 
about  twelve  miles  from  Aberfeldy.  For  its  spirit- 
ual ignorance  this  place  might  be  called  the  valley  of 
the  shadow  of  death.  But  to  those  who  sat  in  dark- 
ness a  light  from  heaven  shone  forth.  A  few  of  the 
inhabitants  had  heard  a  sermon  from  a  minister  at  a 
distance  which  had  excited  their  attention,  and  the 
conversation  held  on  the  subject  seemed  to  kindle  up 
a  spark  among  the  people.  Mr.  Kennedy  then  went 
to  preach  in  this  glen,  and  the  effect  was  such  as  to 
lead  all  who  saw  it  to  exclaim,  "  This  is  the  finger  of 
God."  Day  after  day,  and  night  after  night,  crowds 
assembled  in  barns  and  under  the  shelter  of  the  woods 
to  listen  to  the  strange  things  which  had  been  brought 
to  their  ears.  Sometimes  amid  bleak  winds  and  drift- 
ing snows,  with  their  lamps  suspended  from  the  fir- 
trees  which  sheltered  them,  preacher  and  people  were 
so  overcome  that  the  service  was  interrupted  by  the 


REV.  JAMES  KENNEDY.  123 

strength  of  their  emotions.  The  great  theme  on  these 
occasions  was  the  love  of  Christ.  The  same  wondrous 
story  which  arrested  the  callous  and  stupid  Green- 
landers,  to  whom  for  years  the  Moravians  had  taught 
the  being  and  attributes  of  God  in  vain,  melted  the 
hearts  of  the  Highlanders,  and  won  many  of  them  back 
to  their  God  and  Father.  For  weeks  together  the 
Aberfeldy  pastor  was  compelled  to  neglect  his  own 
flock,  or  to  leave  them  to  feed  themselves.  He  could 
not,  he  dared  not  run  away  from  the  many  whose 
urgent  cry  was,  "  What  shall  we  do  to  be  saved  ?" 

A  very  few  years  after  these  occurrences,  a  simi- 
lar movement  occurred  in  another  direction.  Revi- 
vals took  place  in  Strathardle  and  elsewhere,  and  a 
much  larger  edifice  was  erected  for  worship  at  Aber- 
feldy, to  which  the  Earl  of  Breadalbane,  one  of  his 
former  opposers,  contributed  nearly  two  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars.  At  this  period  not  a  few  persons  trav- 
elled twenty  miles  to  hear  the  gospel  in  Aberfeldy. 
This,  we  are  assured  by  a  still  living  witness,  was  no 
unusual  thing.  From  distant  parts  of  Glenlyon  on 
the  west,  and  of  Strathardle  on  the  east,  large  num- 
bers of  persons  reached  Aberfeldy  every  Sabbath 
morning,  long  before  the  hour  of  service,  leaving  their 
homes  at  three  and  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and 
usually  walking  the  greater  part  of  the  way.  "I  re- 
member," says  one  of  the  sons  of  the  venerable  pastor, 
*'  as  if  it  were  yesterday,  our  watching  for  the  arrival 
of  these  parties,  their  distribution  among  the  houses 
of  the  village  members  to  receive  breakfast ;  and  their 
distribution  after  service  to  receive  dinner,  before  they 


124  THE  HALDANES. 

resumed  their  long,  but  not  weary,  but  rather  their 
happy  journey  to  their  distant  homes.  Our  own 
house  was  crowded  on  these  occasions." 

But  these  scenes,  so  far  as  the  pastor  was  concern- 
ed, were  to  end.  Five  years  after  the  new  church 
edifice  had  been  built,  and  while  the  work  of  God 
continued  greatly  to  prosper,  Mr.  Kennedy  was  in- 
duced, by  the  repeated  and  urgent  applications  of  a 
few  Christians  in  Inverness  to  originate  a  new  church 
in  that  town.  On  a  dark  November  morning,  many 
hours  before  sunrise,  he  and  his  family  set  out  on  their 
northward  pilgrimage.  The  cavalcade  was  of  a  very 
humble  and  primitive  order  ;  but  their  departure  was 
quite  an  event  in  the  history  of  the  romantic  village, 
which  had  been  so  long  the  scene  of  a  faithful  and 
successful  ministry.  The  whole  population  turned 
out  to  bid  them  farewell.  With  lamps  and  torches, 
a  large  number  accompanied  them  for  miles,  and  bade 
them  God  speed.  In  three  days  they  reached  Inver- 
ness. 

To  sketch  the  labors  and  success  of  the  good  man 
during  his  thirty  years'  labor  in  that  town,  is  no  part 
of  our  plan.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  there  are  scattered 
in  many  parts  of  the  world  those  to  whom  he  has  been 
the  agent,  under  God,  of  imparting  spiritual  life ;  while 
he  has  also  had  many  precious  opportunities  of  scat- 
tering the  seed  of  divine  truth  in  spiritually  barren 
parts  of  all  the  northern  counties,  and  not  without 
cheering  evidences  of  success.  He  is  the  father  of  his 
denomination  in  Scotland. 

We  have  already  made  more  than  one  reference 


REV.  GEORGE  COWIE.  125 

to  the  reverend  and  excellent  George  Cowie  of  Hunt- 
ley, who  heard  James  Haldane  preach  in  1797,  on  his 
first  tour  for  evangelical  labors.  So  cautious  at  that 
time  was  the  worthy  minister,  that  he  would  not  enter 
the  place  where  the  preaching  was  going  on,  but  sat 
at  the  window  of  the  manse,  where  he  distinctly  heard 
a  solemn  and  striking  discourse  from  John  5  :  28,  29 : 
"  The  hour  is  coming,  in  the  which  all  that  are  in  the 
graves  shall  hear  his  voice,  and  shall  come  forth  :  they 
that  have  done  good,  unto  the  resurrection  of  life ;  and 
they  that  have  done  evil,  unto  the  resurrection  of 
damnation."  Overcome  by  the  earnestness,  the  pow- 
er, and  the  unction  of  James  Haldane,  George  Cowie 
felt  ashamed  of  his  backwardness,  and  in  the  evening 
accompanied  him  into  the  house  of  worship,  and  from 
that  hour  lent  to  the  preaching  of  the  itinerants  the 
sanction  of  his  official  character  and  influence,  for 
which,  in  1799,  he  was  deposed  from  his  pulpit.  Of 
this  eminent  man  the  Rev.  Dr.  Morison  of  London, 
who  knew  him  well,  says,  "  He  had  no  competitor,  no 
equal  in  the  north  of  Scotland.  He  was  a  man  of 
genius,  bold  and  fearless  in  all  his  movements,  and  in 
his  feelings  of  charity  and  liberality,  half  a  century  at 
least  before  the  ecclesiastics  of  his  day.  In  the  pulpit 
Mr.  Cowie  was  truly  great.  His  appearance  was 
that  of  dignified  simplicity.  He  could  declaim,  and 
he  could  be  pathetic.  His  discourses  partook  of  the 
colloquial.  He  had  studied  human  nature,  and  he 
knew  how  to  approach  it  at  every  avenue.  The 
power  he  had  over  an  audience  was  great  beyond  de- 
scription.   He  could  make  them  smile  or  weep.     His 


126  THE  HALDANES. 

appeal  to  the  conscience  was  unceremonious  and  direct. 
He  never  lost  sight  of  the  theme  of  the  pulpit.  All 
things  were  by  him  counted  loss  for  the  excellency  of 
the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  his  Lord.  He  was  a 
stern  reprover  of  sin  ;  but  he  melted  with  tenderness 
over  the  sinner,  beseeching  him  to  be  reconciled  unto 
God.  I  have  seen  hundreds  dissolved  in  tears  under 
his  ministry,  and  I  have  wept  from  pure  sympathy 
when  I  was  too  young  to  understand  the  message." 

Almost  immediately  after  the  ordination  of  Mr. 
James  Haldane  at  Edinburgh,  his  brother  Robert 
proceeded  to  Glasgow,  where,  on  the  Dean's  brae, 
our  venerable  friend  Dr.  Maclay  first  heard  him,  in  a 
colored  dress,  powdered  hair,  and  a  qmv£  falling  down 
his  back,  addressing  a  vast  concourse  of  people  with 
solemn  earnestness.  Among  his  hearers,  manifesting 
tearful  interest,  sat  the  excellent  Dr.  Balfour,  the  min- 
ister of  one  of  the  largest  churches  in  the  city.  Not 
long  after,  when  the  worthy  doctor  was  told  that  the 
brothers  Haldane  were  about  to  organize  a  new 
church,  and  that  several  of  the  best  of  his  own  people 
meant  to  associate  with  them,  he  avowed  his  convic- 
tion of  the  excellence  of  the  work,  and  his  readiness 
to  part  with  some  of  his  best  friends  to  cooperate 
with  them.  In  this  city  Mr.  Haldane  purchased  the 
circus,  a  building  hitherto  used  for  public  amuse- 
ments, for  about  fifteen  thousand  dollars ;  and  in 
1800,  he  obtained  another  large  house  in  Dundee.  In 
the  former  of  these  edifices  the  Rev.  Greville  Ewing 
became  the  minister,  and  in  the  latter  Dr.  Innes,  both 
of  whom  had  previously  left  the  Established  church. 


ROBERT'S  DONATIONS.  121 

But  it  would  be  impossible  within  the  limits  we  have 
prescribed  to  ourselves,  to  enter  into  detail  as  to  the 
labors  or  the  donations  of  these  extraordinary  men  to 
advance  the  cause  of  Christ  in  the  world.  Suffice  it 
to  say  here,  that  from  1798  to  1810,  Robert  Haldane 
alone  contributed  "of  his  own  proper  goods"  consid- 
erably more  than  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars !  Will  it  be  believed,  after  this,  that  no  small 
part  of  the  opposition  with  which  he  had  to  contend 
had  its  origin  in  the  minds  of  his  opponents  in  a  sus- 
picion of  covetousness  ? 

The  property  of  James  Haldane  was  always  small 
compared  with  that  of  his  brother.  But  he  was  not 
less  devoted  to  Christ  and  his  church.  In  the  matter 
of  personal  sacrifice,  the  one  relinquished  a  beautiful 
estate,  with  the  usual  appendages  of  worldly  distinc- 
tion ;  the  other  gave  up  an  honorable  and  then  lucra- 
tive post,  with  the  prospect  of  a  large  fortune ;  both 
were  content  for  a  time  to  be  sneered  at  by  the 
world,  and  accounted  madmen  in  their  zeal  for  Christ. 
Each  dedicated  intellectual  talents  of  no  common 
order  to  the  same  cause.  The  one  by  his  writings, 
the  other  by  his  preaching,  taught  and  vindicated  the 
same  grand  truths.  While  the  one  was  expending 
thousands  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars,  in 
the  education  of  missionaries  and  preachers,  in  the 
erection  of  church  edifices,  and  in  the  circulation  of 
the  Scriptures,  the  other  was,  at  his  own  cost,  trav- 
elling through  the  destitute  parts  of  Scotland  and 
the  north  of  Ireland,  preaching  the  gospel  to  listen- 
ing multitudes ;  or  as  a  stated  minister  for  half  a  cen- 


128  THE  HALDANES. 

tury,  unwearied  in  well-doing,  discharged  without 
emolument  or  the  shadow  pt  worldly  recompense,  the 
sacred  functions  of  a  laborious  pastor,  blessed  in  his 
work  and  signally  owned  of  his  great  Master. 

The  reader  will  have  borne  in  his  recollection, 
that  when  James  Haldane  undertook  the  pastoral 
care  of  the  Circus  church  in  Edinburgh,  he  expressly 
stipulated  that  this  should  not  prevent  his  laboring 
as  an  evangelist  in  "  the  highways  and  hedges."  In 
1799,  therefore,  he  determined  to  make  a  second  tour 
to  the  north  with  Mr.  Junes  and  Mr.  Aikman.  Our 
limits  will  only  permit  us  to  refer  to  a  few  of  the  more 
striking  facts  of  the  tour.  At  Dundee,  his  native 
town,  he  preached  twice  on  the  Lord's  day  in  the 
Relief  Presbyterian  chapel  to  overflowing  congrega- 
tions. He  says,  "  Many  were  obliged  to  go  away. 
The  spirit  of  hearing  in  this  place  is  remarkable. 
May  they  not  be  forgetful  hearers,  but  doers  of  the 
word."  The  following  Lord's  day  he  preached  at 
Inchture,  near  the  beautiful  seat  of  Lord  Kinnaird. 
In  this  country  village  not  less  than  a  thousand  peo- 
ple assembled  in  the  afternoon  to  hear  the  gospel ; 
after  which  he  returned  to  Dundee,  and  preached  in 
the  open  air  in  the  evening  to  a  vast  multitude. 
Thousands  occupied  the  ground,  listening  in  attentive 
silence  and  with  solemn  feelings.  Before  he  left 
Edinburgh,  he  had  received  a  letter  from  Meigle, 
expressing  the  determination  of  the  people  to  hear 
no  more  itinerants,  and  to  accept  of  no  more  tracts. 
He  went  thither  on  Monday,  when  "  all  the  village 
turned  out  to  hear,  and  the  people  expressed  their 


JAMES'  SECOND  TOUR  NORTH.  129 

strong  disapprobation  of  the  letter."  It  had  been 
signed  by  several  under  the  pressure  of  strong  influ- 
ence, but  they  now  declared  their  earnest  desire  to 
hear  the  gospel  and  receive  tracts. 

While  intent  on  these  labors,  James  Haldane,  to 
employ  the  words  of  his  brother  Robert,  received  an 
intimation  that  "  his  strength  was  not  of  iron,  nor  his 
bones  of  brass.''  Although  he  had  been  from  home 
but  four  weeks,  he  had  preached  more  than  sixty 
times,  often  in  the  open  air,  to  great  multitudes  ;  and 
continued  exertion,  with  exposure  to  the  rainy  weath- 
er, brought  on  quinsy,  which  confined  him  to  his  inn  at 
Huntley.  His  fellow-laborers,  returning  from  a  preach- 
ing excursion,  found  him  so  ill  that  he  had  determined 
to  return  home  next  morning,  and  with  that  view  had 
packed  up  his  portmanteau,  and  ordered  a  postchaise. 
During  the  night,  however,  the  quinsy  broke,  and  he 
obtained  relief ;  he  determined  to  remain,  and  on  the 
following  Lord's  day  evening  he  preached  to  a  large 
congregation  in  the  open  air. 

The  effect  of  these  itinerating  labors  in  the  north 
of  Scotland  may  be  learned  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  Knox, 
the  celebrated  historian  of  John  Knox.  This  gentle- 
man about  that  period  was  sent  to  ordain  a  minister 
at  Kirkwall,  and  the  impression  made  upon  his  mind 
by  the  earnestness  of  the  people  and  their  interest  in 
the  gospel  never  was  effaced,  and  is  said  to  have 
altered  the  tone  of  his  preaching,  and  given  to  it 
more  pointed  simplicity  and  directness  of  personal 
appeal  than  he  had  ever  before  manifested.  From 
his  Life,  as  written  by  his  son,  we  transcribe  a  pas- 


180  THE  HALDANES. 

sage  from  a  sermon  preached  after  his  return  to  his 
own  people  :  "  In  the  country  from  which  I  have  late- 
ly come,  you  will  see  persons  hearing  as  those  who 
have  souls  which  must  be  saved  or  lost.  There  you 
may  see  the  most  lively  concern  depicted  on  every 
face,  and  hear  the  important  question  put  from  one  to  ' 
another,  '  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?'  Here  it  is  a 
miracle  to  see  one  in  tears  while  hearing  the  gospel ; 
and  if  at  any  time  we  witness  the  solitary  instance, 
we  are  tempted  to  think  the  person  weak  or  hypo- 
critical. There  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  see  hun- 
dreds in  tears,  not  from  the  relation  of  a  pathetic 
story,  nor  by  an  address  to  the  passions,  but  by  the 
simple  declaration  of  a  few  plain  facts  respecting  sin 
and  salvation.  Here  it  is  with  difficulty  that  we  can 
fix  your  attention  on  the  sublimest  truths  during  a 
short  discourse.  We  must  contrive  to  amuse  you 
with  some  striking  form  of  address.  We  must  keep 
you  awake  by  mingling  amusement  with  instruction. 
There,  in  order  to  be  heard  with  the  most  eager  atten- 
tion, one  has  only  to  open  his  mouth  and  speak  of 
Christ ;  and  after  he  has  done,  they  will  follow  him  to 
his  house,  and  beseech  him  to  tell  them  more  about 
Christ.  Here  it  is  only  certain  preachers  that  can  be 
patiently  heard ;  there,  so  far  as  we  know,  there  has 
not  been  one  from  whom  they  have  not  received  the 
word  gladly,  nor  one  sermon  preached  that  has  not 
brought  tears  from  the  eyes  of  some." 

At  the  time  of  which  we  are  writing,  Shetland, 
at  the  extreme  north,  which  our  tourists  visited,  had 
little  connection  with  Scotland^  so  little,  that  a  re- 


VISIT  TO  SHETLAND.  131 

spectable  woman  inquired  if  Edinburgh  was  as  large 
as  Lerwick,  one  of  their  small  villages.  Some  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  islands  seldom  heard  a  sermon,  and 
when  a  venerable  clergyman  eighty-eight  years  of  age 
had  given  his  pulpit  for  James  Haldane's  use,  he  rose 
at  the  close  of  the  sermon,  and  in  a  commanding  tone 
warned  the  people  to  take  heed  to  the  words  they 
had  heard,  more  especially  as  this  visit  was  a  new 
and  unprecedented  occurrence  in  their  history.  In 
their  account  of  the  tour,  the  preachers  mentioned  the 
great  kindness  they  received  from  a  gentleman  to 
whom  they  had  no  introduction,  and  who  insisted  on 
their  making  his  house  their  home.  This  gentleman, 
whose  name  was  Hay,  was  not  at  that  time  much 
interested  in  the  truths  of  the  gospel,  but  he  appre- 
ciated their  motives  and  enjoyed  their  society.  They 
expected  throughout  their  tour  no  other  accommoda- 
tion than  the  cottages  afforded,  instead  of  which  they 
were  frequently  urged  to  accept  the  best  accommoda- 
tions in  the  houses  of  ministers  and  gentlemen. 

One  exception  to  this  general  kindness  they  did 
meet  with,  which  they  sometimes  mentioned  with 
much  good-humor,  but  respecting  which  they  said 
they  would  have  been  quiet,  but  for  the  probability 
that  prejudice  might  misunderstand  their  silence. 
They  had  one  afternoon  landed  on  an  island  where 
there  was  only  one  respectable  house,  which  was  near 
the  beach,  and  as  they  were  weary  and  almost  fam- 
ished, they  hoped  to  have  found  a  stranger's,  if  not  a 
prophet's  welcome.  But  here  they  were  coldly  re- 
ceived, with  a  strong  intimation  that  the  people  had 


132  THE  HALDANES. 

no  need  of  more  than  the  occasional  preaching  which 
was  already  provided.  Leaving  Mr.  Innes  in  the 
house,  Mr.  Haldane  had  gone  down  to  obtain  from 
the  boat  a  large'  packet  of  tracts  for  distribution ;  but 
on  returning  and  observing  the  same  frozen  manner, 
he  took  Mr.  Innes  aside,  told  him  it  was  time  to  re- 
turn, and  briefly  apologizing  to  the  inhospitable  group 
for  the  intrusion,  left  the  house  with  his  friend.  Soon 
after  he  preached  on  the  sea-shore,  where  some  of  the 
party,  who  were  themselves  visitors,  added  to  the 
incivility  by  sending  for  their  own  boatmen,  who 
were  listening  to  the  sermon.  It  was  too  late  after 
the  service  again  to  put  to  sea ;  so,  having  obtained 
shelter  in  a  fisherman's  hut,  they  procured  some  salt 
herrings  and  oatcake  for  their  meal,  and  a  dry  floor 
for  their  bed.  This  circumstance  occasioned  great 
indignation  among  all  classes,  both  rich  and  poor,  in 
Shetland,  and  not  only  brought  much  censure  on  the 
inhospitable  family,  but  induced  others  to  increase 
their  kindness  towards  the  missionaries,  to  wipe  away 
the  stain  which  had  been,  in  their  estimation,  cast  on 
the  hospitality  of  the  Shetlanders. 

The  nearly  six  weeks  spent  among  these  islands 
were  not  lost.  The  people  heard  the  gospel  with 
grateful  attention,  many  of  them  were  much  affected, 
and  subsequent  years  developed  many  instances  of 
success  which  had  followed  these  arduous,  and  in 
more  than  one  case  dangerous  labors.  At  that  time 
the  Shetlands  contained  a  population  of  twenty-six 
thousand  persons,  occupying  thirty  scattered  par- 
ishes, placed  un<Jer  the  care  of  twelve  ministers,  of 


JAMES'  SECOND  TOUR  NORTH.  133 

whom  not  more  than  two  or  three  preached  the  gos- 
pel. Long  before  the  close  of  his  life,  James  Haldane  , 
heard  of  a  very  happy  revival  of  religion  among 
them,  much  of  which  could  be  traced  to  the  labors  of 
himself  and  Mr.  Innes.  One  who  well  knew  the  facts 
of  the  case  has  said,  "  The  earnest  and  rousing  ad- 
dresses of  our  brethren  broke  in  upon  the  dangerous 
repose  of  the  people,  exciting  a  spirit  of  inquiry  there 
before  unknown,  when,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  not  a 
few  were  turned  to  righteousness." 

On  the  whole,  this  third  tour  of  Mr.  James  Hal- 
dane, and  the  second  to  the  north,  was  attended  with 
very  much  that  was  encouraging.  The  preachers  saw 
many  precious  fruits  of  their  former  labors,  and 
though  they  were  exposed  to  dangers  both  by  land 
and  sea,  they  had  been  preserved,  and  had  reason  to 
thank  God  and  take  courage.  James  Haldane  had 
now  preached  the  gospel  in  every  part  of  Scotland, 
and  distributed  vast  numbers  of  religious  tracts  from 
the  Solway  Firth  in  the  south  round  about  to  the 
Tweed,  and  thence  beyond  Caithness  and  the  cluster- 
ing Orkneys  and  Shetlands,  even  to  the  Ultima  Thvie 
of  the  Komans.  He  had  also  skirted  the  fastnesses 
of  the  islands  from  Dunkeld  to  Sutherland,  but  had  ' 
felt  the  difference  of  language  an  obstacle  to  his 
progress  in  these  districts,  which  often  led  him  to 
speak  of  the  value  of  the  miraculous  gift  of  tongues, 
that  in  apostolic  times  so  wonderfully  facilitated  the 
diffusion  of  the  gospel. 


134  THE  HALDANES. 


CHAPTEK  YII. 

FROM  THE  COMMENCEMENT  OF  ROBERT  HAL- 
DANE'S  LITERARY  LABORS,  TO  THE  DEATH 
OF  JAMES  HALDANE'S  DAUGHTER  CATHE- 
RINE. 

1799  TO  1802. 

The  pertinacity  with  which  the  opponents  of  evan- 
gelical preaching  imputed  political  motives  to  the 
originators  of  the  plans  for  advancing  the  gospel  in 
Scotland,  was  truly  remarkable.  The  proposal  to 
put  an  end  to  field-preaching  by  legislative  enactment 
was  not  an  unmeaning  threat,  and  that  all  this  should 
be  encouraged  by  an  influential  class  of  Christian 
ministers  was  painful.  But  even  this  was  attended 
with  good ;  it  called  forth  the  activities  of  thousands 
of  Christians  in  favor  of  religious  freedom,  and  it 
introduced  Robert  Haldane  to  the  world  in  a  new 
character,  that  of  a  writer  for  the  public  press,  in 
which  department  of  usefulness  he  was  hereafter  to 
appear  prominent. 

The  pamphlet  to  which  we  allude  was  entitled, 
"  An  Address  to  the  Public,  by  Robert  Haldane,  con- 
cerning Political  Opinions,  and  plans  lately  adopted 
to  promote  Religion  in  Scotland."  In  this  produc- 
tion, which  bears  the  stamp  of  truth  on  every  page, 
with  manly  frankness  he  sketches  his  past  history 
with  as  little  of  egotism  as  his  object  would  allow,  T 
while  he  traces  to  their  source  each  of  the  plans  in 
which  he  was  engaged.    He  declares  his  attachment 


^ 


JAMES— FOURTH  TOUR.        135 

to  government  as  an  ordinance  of  God,  and  boldly 
pleads  for  unlimited  freedom  in  extending  religion  in 
every  way  approved  by  its  friends. 

The  attempt  of  Mr.  Pitt,  in  the  bill  at  this  time  in- 
troduced into  Parliament,  to  put  a  stop  to  lay  preach- 
ing, did  not  interrupt  the  progress  of  James  Haldane. 
In  June,  1800,  in  company  with  Mr.  Campbell,  who  had 
now  relinquished  secular  pursuits  to  engage  fully  in 
the  ministry,  he  set  out  for  his  fourth  summer  cam- 
paign. Mr.  Campbell,  in  his  usual  graphic  style, 
writes,  "  I  hope  I  shall  bless  God  for  ever  for  this 
journey.  We  are  really  a  gazing-stock  to  men. 
Wherever  we  go  in  a  town,  doors  and  windows  are 
thrown  open  to  allow  those  within  to  examine  our 
appearance  as  we  pass  along.  When  we  enter  a 
town,  we  generally  disperse  a  few  pamphlets,  to  no- 
tify that  the  missionaries  are  arrived ;  then,  after 
putting  up  our  horses,  we  take  a  walk  through  the 
town  to  tell  the  people  of  the  sermon.  This,  along 
with  drum,  horn,  or  bell,  according  to  the  custom  of 
the  place,  makes  our  intention  generally  known.  Last 
night  I  heard  some  of  the  hearers,  after  the  sermon, 
expressing  their  surprise  that  there  was  no  collection. 
'  They  cannot  be  poor  men,'  said  one ;  '  I  cannot  tell 
what  they  are,'  said  another." 

The  reader  will  remember  the  opposition  which 
James  Haldane  met  from  the  magistrates  of  Ayr  two 
years  before ;  at  this  time  he  spent  two  Sabbaths  in 
that  place,  and  instead  of  meeting  with  opposition, 
he  was  welcomed  by  one  of  the  magistrates,  while 
the  people  flocked  attentively  to  hear  the  gospel,  in 


136  THE  HALDANES. 

crowds  amounting  to  from  three  to  five  thousand 
souls.  Mr.  Campbell  writes  on  Sunday  evening, 
June  29,  "  Mr.  Haldane  preached  in  the  evening  to 
about  four  thousand.  Many  of  the  gentry  were  pres- 
ent. His  text  was,  1  Cor.  1  :  18,  'For  the  preaching 
of  the  cross  is  to  them  that  perish,  foolishness ;  but 
unto  us  which  are  saved,  it  is  the  power  of  God.' 
He  told  them  part  of  his  own  history.  I  sat  at  the 
outside.  I  believe  not  above  forty  people  went  away 
till  after  the  blessing  was  pronounced,  which  was  at 
nine  o'clock.  Afterwards  a  gentleman  called  on  Mr. 
Haldane  who  had  been  much  affected  by  the  sermon. 
I  understood  that  a  good  many  had  been  brought 
under  concern  about  the  world  to  come  by  the  last 
visit  of  Mr.  Haldane  and  Mr.  Aikman." 

During  the  same  summer  of  1800,  after  visiting 
the  little  island  of  Cumbray  and  the  beautiful  shores 
of  Bute,  James  Haldane  sailed  over  to  Arran,  and 
preached  in  all  its  villages.  The  ignorance  of  the 
Celtic  inhabitants  was  indeed  great ;  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  which  he  stated,  at  his  Jubilee  meeting  of 
1849,  that  on  a  sacramental  occasion  he  had  been 
present  in  a  parish  church,  where  there  was  a  long 
pause,  none  of  the  people  seeming  disposed  to  ap- 
proach the  tables.  Suddenly  he  heard  the  noise  of 
sticks,  and  looking  round,  saw  one  of  them  fall  on 
the  bald  head  of  a  man  behind  him.  It  was  the  ruling 
elders  driving  the  poor  Highlanders  to  the  table, 
much  in  the  same  manner  as  they  were  accustomed 
to  pen  their  cattle.  Had  this  happened  in  a  remote 
corner  of  popish  Ireland,  it  would  have  been  less  sur- 


JAMES— FOURTH  TOUR.         131 

prising,  but  the  Gaelic  population  of  Arran  seemed  to 
be  accustomed  to  submit  to  this  rough  discipline  with- 
out a  murmur. 

From  Mr.  Campbell's  journal  we  furnish  a  con- 
densed continuation  of  their  tour.  On  reaching  the 
west  side  of  Arran,  they  came  to  Kintyre,  a  long  neck 
of  land  stretching  towards  the  northern  coast  of  Ire- 
land, the  chief  town  of  which,  called  Campbelton,  had 
a  considerable  population.  As  their  parish  extended 
to  wherever  there  were  human  beings,  and  hearing 
that  there  was  not  a  gospel  preacher  in  the  whole 
range  of  seventy  miles,  except  in  the  chief  town,  they 
determined  to  pay  it  a  visit.  They  engaged  a  boat, 
making  towards  the  part  of  the  coast  where  was  a 
small  inn,  which  they  reached  at  ten  o'clock  at  night. 
After  scrambling  over  the  rocks  on  the  beach,  the 
sailors  led  them  to  the  inn,  where  they  found  the 
inmates  fast  asleep  ;  but  the  landlord  was  easily 
roused,  and  soon  cooked  them  a  Highland  supper, 
which  universally  is  ham  and  eggs.  He  was  much 
excited,  and  did  his  best  to  please  his  visitors;  he 
had  been  in  the  army,  and  willingly  joined  them  in 
evening  worship.  He  told  them  he  had  some  near 
neighbors  who  would  readily  hear  a  sermon  in  the 
morning  in  the  front  of  his  house ;  but  as  only  three 
came,  after  conversing  with  them,  they  proceeded  to. 
Campbelton,  where  they  stopped  for  several  days, 
preaching  every  morning  and  evening  on  the  green 
slope  of  a  hill  to  about  one  thousand  people  in  the 
morning  and  fifteen  hundred  in  the  evening,  and 
twice  in  the  neighboring  villages  during  the  day. 


138  THE  HALDANES. 

But  the  progress  of  our  preachers  was  not  to  be 
without  opposition.  By  the  advice  of  friends  at 
Campbelton,  they  employed  a  messenger  to  go  down 
to  Kintyre,  and  announce  four  sermons  each  day  at 
the  different  villages.  To  all  this  the  clergy  were 
opposed.  They  were,  for  the  most  part,  deeply  im- 
mersed in  farming,  fishing,  or  trading  in  sheep  or 
cattle.  Their  official  duties,  if  attended  to  at  all, 
were  performed  in  the  most  careless  manner,  and  not 
a  few  of  them  denied  the  divinity  of  Christ.  At 
their  instigation,  the  Highland  chiefs  combined  to 
stop  the  itinerancies  in  the  neighborhood.  One  of 
the  gentlemen  more  zealous  than  the  rest,  a  military 
man  and  heir  to  a  baronetcy,  gave  notice  that  the 
magistrates  had  resolved  to  allow  of  no  more  field- 
preaching.  James  Haldane  plainly  told  the  gallant 
major,  as  he  had  previously  told  the  magistrates  of 
Ayr,  that  the  justices  were  exceeding  their  powers, 
that  such  an  illegal  mandate  would  not  be  obeyed, 
and  that  he  should  certainly  preach  at  the  places 
where  sermons  had  been  already  announced.  The 
major,  although  somewhat  disconcerted  by  the  calm 
determination  with  which  he  was  met,  repeated  his 
prohibition,  and  said  he  would  be  at  their  next  place 
of  meeting  before  them.  He  was  indeed  there,  but 
failed  in  his  resolution.  He  sat  on  horseback  during 
Mr.  Haldane's  sermon,  in  a  scarlet  hunting-coat,  saw 
tracts  distributed  among  the  people,  but  could  not 
muster  courage  to  offer  any  interruption.  He  allowed 
them  to  mount  their  horses  and  depart. 

But  the  major  had  not  yet  done  with  the  itinerants. 


JAMES— FOURTH  TOUR.         139 

Attended  by  his  groom,  he  soon  after  passed  them  in 
a  handgallop,  and  then  pulling  up,  turned  round,  ap- 
parently once  more  resolved  on  putting  in  force  the 
arrest  he  had  contemplated.  But  as  often  as  his  eye 
encountered  James  Haldane's  unflinching  glance,  his 
courage  seemed  to  fail,  and  he  passed  on.  Arriving 
at  Whitehouse,  the  next  preaching  station,  the  major 
was  joined  by  the  parish  minister  and  several  magis- 
trates, all  on  horseback,  and  full  of  excitement. 
Field-preaching  was  beyond  their  philosophy,  and  to 
persist  in  it  after  thei»  prohibition,  appeared  to  these 
little  chieftains  like  "  bearding  the  lion  in  his  den,"  and 
it  was  evident  that  a  great  blow  was  meditated.  Still 
Mr.  Haldane,  in  sight  of  the  assembled  magistrates, 
left  the  inn  to  preach  in  the  middle  of  the  town,  and 
strange  to  say,  against  him  none  of  all  the  party  ven- 
tured to  execute  the  arrest.  The  people,  however, 
were  so  much  intimidated  by  the  presence  of  their 
chiefs  and  of  the  magistrates,  that,  for  the  most  part, 
they  stood  and  listened  at  a  distance. 

Mr.  Campbell's  duty  was  to  preach  at  an  adjoin- 
ing village,  and  though  his  friend  was  left  unmolested 
in  the  town,  no  sooner  did  he  set  out,  than,  to  use  his 
own  words,  "  I  was  followed  by  the  person  in  the  red 
coat,  and  ordered  by  him,  as  a  justice  of  the  peace,  to 
return  to  Whitehouse,  which  I  did,  and  put  my  horse 
into  the  stable  till  Mr.  Haldane  returned  from  preach- 
ing." Mr.  Campbell  was  a  man  of  great  faith  and 
strong  passive  courage,  but  he  was  small  of  stature, 
and  had  not  much  of  the  bearing  which,  especially  on 
occasions  of  difficulty,  characterized  his  companion. 


140  THE  HALDANES. 

On  his  return  from  preaching,  James  Haldane  was  sur- 
prised to  find  Mr.  Campbell  a  prisoner  at  large.  But 
to  bring  matters  to  an  issue,  he  coolly  ordered  their 
horses  to  be  saddled,  while  he  advised  Mr.  Campbell 
to  go  to  the  gentlemen  who  were  assembled  with  the 
parish  minister  in  the  adjoining  room,  and  inquire  by 
what  authority  he  had  been  ordered  to  return  to 
Whitehouse.  They  replied,  pointing  to  a  sealed  pa- 
per, "There  is  a  warrant  to  send  you  to  the  sheriff 
of  Argyll ;  and  the  volunteers  who  are  to  attend  you 
will  be  ready  in  a  few  minutes."  The  parish  minister 
had,  on  the  previous  Sunday,  silenced  their  messen- 
ger, while  announcing  the  preaching  to  the  people 
who  were  coming  out  of  the  church.  Standing  with 
a  heavy  leaded  whip  in  his  hand,  he  exclaimed,  "If 
you  repeat  that  notice,  with  one  stroke  of  my  whip 
1 11  send  you  into  the  eternal  world." 

Mr.  Campbell's  journal  continues  the  narrative  of 
their  progress  under  arrest,  and  though  it  may  possi- 
bly be  thought  somewhat  long,  it  is  in  itself  so  inter- 
esting, and  is  so  admirably  adapted  to  excite  our 
gratitude  for  the  superior  privileges  we  enjoy,  that 
we  will  transcribe  it:  "A  sergeant,  with  a  party  of 
volunteers  in  their  uniforms,  being  arrived,  we  were 
told  we  might  stop  where  we  pleased ;  that  the  sol- 
diers had  only  directions  to  see  that  we  went  to  the 
sheriff.  As  the  soldiers  had  no  horses,  of  course  our 
progress  was  slow.  After  dark,  we  arrived  at  the 
town  where  we  should  have  preached,  and  learned 
that  a  congregation  had  assemloled,  and  did  not  dis- 
perse till  it  was  almost  dark.     We  took  up  our  quar- 


JAMES— FOURTH  TOUR.         141 

ters  at  a  good  inn.  As  it  was  our  custom  to  have 
worship  at  all  the  inns  where  we  halted,  we  had  it 
there,  and  desired  the  landlord  to  invite  as  many  of 
his  neighbors  to  attend  as  he  pleased.  The  room, 
which  was  of  a  good  size,  was  well  filled,  and  our 
volunteers  all  attended.  A  chapter  of  the  Bible  being 
read,  and  an  address  founded  on  it  being  given,  and 
prayer  offered,  the  company  dispersed.  Next  morn- 
ing at  seven  o'clock  we  set  off,  and  had  about  fifteen 
miles  to  go  to  Lochgilphead  to  breakfast.  While  at 
this  meal  an  old  man  called,  who  said,  '  We  heard  of 
your  coming,  and  of  your  having  arrived  at  the  inn ; 
and  though  I  have  been  a  soldier  in  the  German  wars 
of  '56,  and  seen  many  prisoners,  yet  never  having 
seen  any  prisoners  for  preaching  the  gospel,  I  thought 
it  was  my  duty  to  call  upon  you,  and  therefore  am  I 
come.  But  you  will  have  some  things  to  converse 
about  among  yourselves,  I  therefore  wish  you  good 
morning.'  After  an  interview  with  a  justice  of  the 
peace,  to  whose  care  we  had  been  committed,  we  went 
on  to  the  sherifi''s,  about  seven  miles  farther,  under 
the  care  of  the  postmaster." 

To  the  sheriff  they  were  very  unwelcome  visitors. 
He  was  an  old  man,  and  having  been  apprized  of  their 
coming,  was  by  no  means  disposed  to  commit  himself 
to  the  violent  proceedings  of  the  anti-preaching  chiefs. 
He  proposed  several  questions,  which  were  satisfac- 
torily answered,  and  after  consulting  with  a  gentle- 
man who  sat  with  him  as  his  adviser,  said,  ''  But  have 
you  taken  the  oaths  to  the  government  ?"  James  Hal- 
dane  replied  that  they  had  not,  but  that  they  were 


M 


142  THE  HALDANES. 

ready  to  do  so  instantly.  The  sheriff  said  that  he 
had  not  a  copy  of  the  oaths,  and  that  therefore  they 
must  go  to  Inverary  for  the  purpose.  The  words  of 
the  Toleration  Act  were  quoted  to  show  that,  "if 
required  to  take  the  oaths,  they  were  to  be  adminis- 
tered before  the  nearest  magistrate."  "Now,"  said 
Mr.  Haldane,  "  you  are  the  marest  magistrate.  We 
are  peaceable,  loyal  subjects,  transgressing  no  law, 
and  prepared  to  do  all  that  the  law  requires,  but  to 
Inverary  we  will  not  go,  except  as  your  prisoners  and 
on  your  responsibility."  The  sheriff  had  wished  to 
make  the  affair  a  drawn  battle,  and  to  screen  the 
magistrates  from  blame,  while  he  declined  to  act 
against  the  preachers.  But  James  Haldane  felt  the 
importance  of  refusing  all  compromise,  and  of  bring- 
ing the  question  to  an  issue.  The  sheriff  was  there- 
fore obliged  to  give  way,  and  after  again  consulting 
with  his  friend,  said,  "  Gentlemen,  you  are  at  liberty." 

Thus  released,  and  feeling  their  rights  had  been 
vindicated,  the  intrepid  missionaries  returned  and 
preached  at  all  the  villages  where  they  had  been 
expected.  The  people,  who  had  been  previously  in- 
timidated, now  flocked  in  crowds  to  listen  to  the  gos- 
pel. Mr.  Campbell  says,  "  At  Whitehouse,  when  Mr. 
Haldane  returned,  the  whole  town  seemed  to  have 
turned  out."  Another  gentleman  who  was  present, 
wrote,  "  He  was  in  one  of  his  iinest  keys,  and  preach- 
ed with  an  eloquence,  a  fervor,  and  an  animation 
which  seemed  to  have  acquired  redoubled  force  from 
the  circumstances  in  which  he  had  been  placed." 

The  arrest  was  clearly  illegal,  and  the  magistrates 


JAMES— FOURTH  TOUR.         143 

concerned  in  it  might  have  been  prosecuted,  more 
especially  the  gentleman  whom  a  Scottish  judge  de- 
scribed as  acting  more  like  a  constable  than  a  justice 
of  the  peace.  It  is  believed  that  they  were  informed 
of  their  mistake  by  the  then  Lord  Chief-Justice  Clerk, 
who  had  met  the  party  on  the  road,  and  on  learning 
the  facts  was  much  surprised.  But  Messrs.  Haldane 
and  Campbell  had  no  desire  to  be  litigious  or  revenge- 
ful. It  was,  however,  a  remarkable  coincidence,  and 
one  which  will  not  be  overlooked  by  those  who  re- 
member that  nothing  happens  by  chance,  that  the 
very  next  time  Mr.  Campbell  met  the  magistrate  who 
had  acted  towards  him  with  so  little  justice,  it  was 
within  the  precincts  of  the  Abbey  of  Holyrood  at 
Edinburgh,  where  the  major  himself  was  a  prisoner  at 
large  within  the  asylum  for  debtors.  It  may  be  added 
as  one  of  the  anecdotes  which  have  escaped  oblivion, 
and  flit  across  the  scenes  amid  the  lights  and  shad- 
ows of  these  bygone  days,  that  on  the  morning  when 
Messrs.  Haldane  and  Campbell  left  the  sheriff  the 
whole  party  were  drenched  in  a  shower  of  rain.  Ar- 
riving at  a  small  Highland  inn,  they  called  for  break- 
fast and  a  fire,  where  they  might  dry  their  wet  gar- 
ments. There  was  but  one  fireplace  in  the  hut,  and 
they  were  all  crowding  round  it,  with  their  coats  off, 
some  wrapped  in  tartan  plaids  or  blankets,  while  ham 
and  eggs  were  in  preparation.  James  Haldane,  whose 
naturally  joyous  spirit  quickly  caught  the  ludicrous- 
ness  of  the  scene,  exclaimed,  "  What  a  fine  subject  for  -^ 
a  caricature;  field-preachers  refreshing  themselves 
after  a  shower."  ^ 


144  THE  HALDANES. 

The  results  of  that  tour  were  not  evanescent.  On 
their  return  to  Edinburgh,  they  prevailed  on  a  wor- 
thy preacher,  who  was  a  native  of  the  place,  to  go 
and  labor  in  Kintyre.  Besides  attending  the  college, 
he  had  just  finished  his  preparatory  studies  for  the 
ministry  at  Robert  Haldane's  seminary,  and  he  keenly 
felt  the  spiritual  destitution  and  ignorance  of  his  coun- 
trymen. At  the  end  of  two  years,  Mr.  Campbell  again 
visited  the  place,  and  found  as  the  result  of  Mr.  Mac- 
allan's labors,  the  sheriff  himself  converted,  as  also 
the  minister's  man,  who  aforetime  had  been  prohibited 
from  hearing  him  preach;  in  spite  of  opposition  a 
house  of  worship  had  been  erected,  many  notorious 
sinners  had  been  converted,  and  the  gospel  had  reach- 
ed several  of  the  neighboring  villages.  It  was  also 
stated  that  one  of  the  parish  ministers,  having  in  vain 
opposed  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  attempted 
to  counteract  its  effects,  became  so  unhappy  in  its 
success  that  he  resigned  his  living  and  emigrated  to 
the  United  States. 

,  From  the  sixth  of  May,  1797,  when  James -Hal- 
dane  preached  his  first  sermon  to  the  rude  colliers  of 
Gilmer  ton,  to  the  middle  of  the  year  1800,  the  work 
which  he  accomplished  would  have  filled  the  life  of  an 
ordinary  man.  Within  that  period  were  included  his 
first  three  itinerancies,  which,  taken  together,  occu- 
pied little  short  of  twelve  months  of  incessant  exer- 
tion ;  during  the  greater  part  of  which  he  preached 
at  least  once  every  day,  generally  twice,  often  thrice, 
and  occasionally  four  times.  While  stationary  in 
Edinburgh,  even  before  he  was  ordained,  his  labor  in 


JAMES— FOURTH  TOUR.         145 

the  surrounding  villages,  and  his  occasional  excur- 
sions to  a  greater  distance,  were  frequent  and  unwea- 
ried. After  his  ordination,  his  "  mission  to  the  high- 
ways and  hedges,''  as  he  called  it,  was  not  abandoned  ; 
and  on  the  Calton  hill  of  Edinburgh,  or  beneath  an 
overshadowing  rock  in  the  King's  park,  or  on  the  links 
of  Bruntsfield,  Newhaven,  or  Leith,  his  voice  was 
heard  by  thousands,  interested,  solemnized,  or  awed 
by  his  direct  and  earnest  appeals  to  the  heart  and 
.  conscience.  To  his  old  friends  and  companions  the 
secret  of  the  extent  and  success  of  his  .labors  was 
'marvellous,  while  the  masses,  partly  attracted  by 
novelty,  and  partly  touched  by  sympathy  in  the 
"powers  of  the  world  to  come,"  were  disposed  to 
listen  with  delight  to  a  voice  which  stirred  their 
inmost  souls,  and  brought  the  gospel  of  salvation  to 
their  ears  and  their  hearts.  I      :, 

Though  so  much  engaged  in  public  duties,  no  man '' 
was  more  exemplary  in  all  the  duties  of  domestic  life 
than  James  Haldane.  With  his  children,  he  was  as 
playful  as  if  he  were  himself  a  child,  though  he  never 
for  a  moment  lost  sight  of  the  respect  due  to  him  as  a 
parent.  With  an  increasing  family,  his  affectionate 
wife  could  not  but  feel  the  discomfort  of  the  pro- 
tracted tours  of  a  husband  so  much  beloved,  and  of  v 
the  dangers,  real  and  imaginary,  with  which  they 
were  associated.  Even  the  threats  of  magisterial 
influence,  though  proved  to  be  unauthorized  by  law, 
were  not  then  deemed  groundless;  nor  did  she  feel 
altogether  reassured  by  the  compliment  paid  to  the 
amiable  qualities  of  her  own  character,  when  told,  by 

1  '  ~      i 


^^ 


146  THE  HALDANES. 

some  of  her  relatives,  that  regard  for  her  feelings 
had  been  a  shield  both  to  her  husband  and  his 
brother. 

While  James  Haldane  was  thus  actively  employed, 
the  exertions  of  Robert  were  not  less  arduous,  though 
in  a  different  way.  He  had  made  a  noble  effort  to 
found  a  mission  in  India,  and  one  which  he  did  not 
abandon  until  even  good  men  began  to  fear  lest  the 
continued  agitation  of  the  plan  might  be  considered 
as  attempting  to  coerce  the  government.  Before  he 
disposed  of  his  beautiful  estate  of  Airthrey,  it  was 
for  several  years  the  centre  of  attraction  to  Chris- 
tians of  all  denominations,  where  all  found  a  cordial 
welcome.  A  temporary  house  of  worship  was  fitted 
up  in  the  woods,  where  such  honored  ministers  as  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Bogue,  and  Messrs.  Simeon,  Ewing,  and 
others  of  kindred  spirit  were  accustomed  to  preach 
on  the  week-days.  The  most  interesting  and  ani- 
mating topics  connected  with  the  progress  of  Chris- 
tianity were  discussed  at  Robert  Haldane's  table; 
and  often  did  their  host  sit  up  with  one  or  more  of 
his  guests  until  the  morning  sun  put  to  shame  the 
candles,  which  had  been  once  and  again  lighted  to 
show  them  to  their  apartments.  In  all  his  plans  his 
wife  became  nearly  as  much  interested  as  her  hus- 
band ;  and  when  he  sold  his  estate,  and  reduced  his 
establishment,  that  his  means  of  usefulness  might  be 
increased,  she  voluntarily  resigned  her  carriage,  and 
would  never  again  allow  of  the  expense.  They  had 
but  one  child,  a  much-loved  daughter,  who  was  in 
her  twelfth  year  when  they  left  Airthrey,  and  who 


EEV.  ANDREW  FULLER.  Ut 

was  married  to  an  excellent  Christian  man  before  she 
was  eighteen.  There  were,  therefore,  fewer  domestic 
occupations  to  absorb  Mrs.  Haldane's  attention,  and 
thus  was  she  able  to  devote  much  of  her  time  in  as- 
sisting her  husband  in  the  preparation  of  his  works, 
both  by  copying  his  manuscripts,  and  making  extracts 
from  other  writers. 

From  the  time  when  Eobert  Haldane  left  Air- 
threy,  in  the  summer  of  1798,  to  the  same  period  of 
the  year  1800,  when  he  published  the  "Address"  to 
which  we  have  referred,  he  had  been  the  means  of 
bringing  over  from  Africa  about  thirty  children  of 
native  chiefs,  to  be  educated  in  the  principles  of 
Christianity.  He  had,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
opened  the  circus,  and  made  arrangements  for  other 
large  houses  of  worship,  at  his  own  expense,  in  Glas- 
gow, Dundee,  Perth,  Thurso,  Wick,  and  Elgin.  He 
had,  even  at  that  early  period,  selected  about  eighty 
students,  and  placed  them  under  the  care,  for  two  or 
three  years,  of  Dr.  Bogue  and  Messrs.  Ewing  and 
Innes.  He  had  printed  for  circulation  an  almost 
countless  number  of  religious  tracts,  and  distributed 
many  Bibles  and  New  Testaments,  when  as  yet  there 
were  no  London  Tract  or  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
societies.  He  had  formed  or  assisted  in  forming  not 
a  few  Sabbath-schools;  and  in  bringing  the  well- 
known  Andrew  Fuller  to  Scotland,  had  given  an  im- 
pulse to  the  translations  of  the  Baptist  missionaries 
at  Serampore,  in  the  East  Indies,  which  were  then 
languishing  for  want  of  funds,  and  were  scoffed  at 
in  the  world-renowned  "  Edinburgh  Review "  as  the 


148  THE  HALDANES. 

abortive  efforts  of  "  a  nest  of  consecrated  cobblers ;" 
but  to  the  ability  and  success  of  whicb  even  that  work 
has  since  borne  honorable  testimony. 

The  Rev.  Andrew  Fuller  was  originally  a  farmer, 
and  in  early  life  became  a  Christian  and  a  minister. 
Steadily  devoted  to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures,  he 
rose  to  great  eminence  as  a  practical  theologian ;  and 
with  Carey,  Ryland,  and  gthers,  founded  the  Baptist 
Missionary  Society  in  1792,  of  which  he  remained  the 
efficient  secretary  till  his  death  in  1815.  Invited  by 
the  Haldanes,  he  first  visited  Scotland  to  collect  for 
the  Bengali  translation  of  the  Bible,  in  October,  1799. 
His  works  on  the  Socinian  controversy,  and  his  "  Gos- 
pel its  own  Witness,"  which  Mr.  Wilberforce  had 
warmly  commended  to  the  study  of  the  celebrated 
Mr.  Pitt,  the  prime-minister  of  England,  had  already 
made  his  name  popular,  and  Mr.  Haldane,  having 
sent  him  some  five  hundred  dollars  for  the  Serampore 
translations,  he  was  not  indisposed  to  accept  his  invi- 
tation to  visit  Scotland.  Mr.  Fuller  said  that  till 
Mr.  Haldane  sent  this  donation,  he  had  not  known 
that  it  would  be  worth  while  to  go  to  that  country, 
but  that  he  now  saw  the  truth  of  Sir  Robert  Wal- 
pole's  maxim,  that  "every  man  has  his  price."  Br. 
Innes  testified  to  the  powerful  effects  of  Fuller's 
preaching  in  Scotland  ;  and  Fuller  himself  wrote,  "  I 
have  been  in  company  with  Messrs.  Robert  and  James 
Haldane,  Aikman,  Innes,  Ritchie,  and  some  other 
leading  men  in  the  Circus  connection.  Certainly 
these  appear  to  be  excellent  men,  free  from  the  ex- 
travagance and  nonsense  which  infect  some.    Robert 


DIVIE  BETHUNE,  ESQ.  149 

Haldane  seems  a  very  disinterested,  godly  man,  and 
his  wife  as  disinterested  and  amiable  as  himself. 
They  have  agreed  to  sell  a  large  estate,  and  to  live 
as  retired  as  possible,  to  have  the  more  to  lay  out  for 
the  furtherance  of  the  gospel."  Elsewhere  he  says, 
"The  two  Haldanes,  with  Messrs. Tnnes,  Aikman,  and 
Ewing,  appear  to  us  very  intelligent,  serious,  and 
affectionate  in  their  work  ;  active,  liberal,  and  indeed 
almost  every  thing  that  we  could  wish.  No  drollery 
in  their  preaching,  but  very  desirous  to  be  and  do 
every  thing  that  is  right." 

It  is  gratifying  in  this  connection  to  introduce  an 
extract  of  a  letter  addressed  by  the  late  truly  excel- 
lent Divie  Bethune,  Esq.,  of  New  York,  who  was  then 
in  Scotland,  to  his  valued  friend.  Rev.  Dr.  John  M. 
Mason,  written  at  Edinburgh,  July  17,  1801.  He 
says,  "I  met  with  Mr.  Robert  Haldane  at  his  father- 
in-law's,  near  Glasgow.  He  has  sold  his  fine  landed 
estate  for  seventy  thousand  guineas,  and  bought  into 
the  funds,  for  the  purpose  of  being  ready  to  appro- 
priate his  money  for  promoting  the  interests  of  relig- 
ion ;  and  out  of  an  income  of  six  or  seven  thousand 
[pounds]  a  year,  he  limits  his  family  to  five  hun- 
dred pounds  sterling.  All  the  rest  goes  to  building 
and  supporting  tabernacles,  and  sending  missionaries 
everywhere.  He  has  them  in  Denmark,  and  feels 
interested  for  America.  He^  says  that  we  have  the 
means  within  ourselves  in  America,  if  we  had  only 
the  spirit.  I  am  to  see  him  again  on  his  return  to 
Edinburgh,  and  will  get  him  to  write  to  some  of  you 
on  the  subject."     Returning  to  the  subject  in  his 


150  THE  HALDANES. 

postscript  to  the  same  leiter,  Mr.  Bethune  adds, 
"Robert  Haldane  has  set  a  glorious  example.  He 
says,  *  Much  money  is  laid  out  for  temporal  comforts ; 
the  benevolent  of  the  world  take  care  of  public  insti- 
tutions for  the  bodies  of  men,  but  are  not  their  souls 
more  precious  ?'  He  sold  one  of  the  most  enchanting 
seats  in  Scotland,  and  gave  all  up,  having  his  wishes 
centred  on  '  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light.'  I  ^ 
love  him  in  my  heart  for  this." 

While  Eobert  Haldane  was  busy  in  directing 
great  plans,  and  in  persuading  others  to  make  known 
the  gospel,  he  was  not  himself  indisposed  to  assist 
even  in  field-preaching.  His  brother's  success  encour- 
aged him  in  the  spring  of  1798  to  commence  this  im- 
portant work.  Dr.  Innes,  who  was  present,  speaks 
thus  of  his  first  effort :  "  We  proceeded  to  Dunkeld 
on  Saturday  evening,  and  next  morning  rode  up  to 
Weem,  a  few  miles  from  Taymouth.  After  hearing  a 
sermon  in  the  church,  I  requested  the  people,  as  they 
were  dismissing,  to  remain,  as  a  gentleman  who  was 
there  wished  to  address  them.  This  was  something 
altogether  new,  especially  as  Mr.  Haldane  wore  col- 
ored clothes.  We  got  the  accommodation  of  a  barn 
from  a  good  woman  in  the  neighborhood,  when  he 
expounded  the  first  eight  or  ten  verses  of  the  second 
chapter  of  the  epistle  to  the  Ephesians  with  great 
clearness  and  force.  Two  years  afterwards  he  took 
a  house  in  one  of  the  straths — I  think  strath  Brom — 
above  Dunkeld,  when  he  preached  the  gospel  to  all 
around.  But  with  his  characteristic  energy  and  ve- 
hemence, he  spoke  so  loud  and  so  frequently,  that  he 


ROBERT  PREACHING  AT  STILTON.  161 

ruptured  a  bloodvessel,  and  was  compelled  to  desist." 
Robert  Haldane's  voice,  calm,  mellow,  and  pleasing, 
combined  much  of  power  and  pathos,  but  it  had  nei- 
ther the  force  nor  compass  of  his  brother's,  nor  could 
he,  like  James,  vary  his  tones  to  give  so  much  em- 
phasis, impressiveness,  and  effect. 

Some  years  after  this,  Robert  Haldane  sometimes 
related  an  anecdote  connected  with  this  year.  He  was 
travelling  in  a  post-chaise  from  Edinburgh  to  Lon- 
don, and  arriving  at  Stilton,  in  Huntingdonshire,  he 
determined  to  preach  there  on  the  Lord's  day,  espe- 
cially as  he  learned  that  no  evangelical  truth  was 
preached  in  that  neighborhood.  He  proposed  to  the 
landlord  to  address  the  people  in  the  yard  of  the 
hotel,  and  that  gentleman  very  readily  acceded  to 
the  proposal.  The  carriages  were  cleared  out  of  a 
spacious  shed,  and  intimation  was  given  throughout 
the  town  of  the  sermon.  Mr.  Haldane  addressed  a 
very  numerous  and  attentive  congregation,  and  next 
morning  proceeded  on  his  journey.  Four  years  after- 
wards he  again  spent  a  Sabbath  at  the  same  inn,  and 
hearing  there  was  then  a  Methodist  chapel  at  hand, 
he  went  there  to  worship.  The  gospel  was  faithfully 
preached,  and  at  the  close  of  the  service  he  was  retir- 
ing, when  an  old  lady,  earnestly  looking  at  him,  ex- 
claimed, "  Here 's  the  beginning  of  it  all!"  On  expla- 
nation with  the  minister  and  others,  it  was  discovered 
that  the  sermon  he  had  preached  four  years  before 
had  been  blessed  to  the  conversion  of  some  who  heard 
it ;  that  as  the  result*  they  were  anxious  to  learn 
more  of  the  truth,  and  to  enjoy  a  faithful  ministry ; 


152  THE  HALDANES. 

and  that  tlius  the  Methodists  had  erected  the  house 
in  which  they  had  that  morning  worshipped.  For 
many  years  Robert  Haldane  frequently,  as  his  strength 
permitted,  preached  in  the  open  air  and  in  covered 
buildings. 

No  sooner  had  James  Haldane  accepted  the  office 
of  stated  minister  of  the  Circus,  than  his  brother 
Robert  began  to  erect  for  him  a  spacious  church  edi- 
fice at  the  head  of  Leith  Walk,  Edinburgh,  which, 
after  the  fashion  of  Mr.  Whitefield's  houses  of  wor- 
ship, was  called  the  Tabernacle.  It  was  larger  than 
any  of  the  previously  built  city  churches,  and  was 
estimated  comfortably  to  seat  three  thousand  two  hun- 
dred persons,  mid  on  special  occasions  four  thousand 
could  be  crowded  into  it.  The  whole  cost  was  borne 
by  Robert  Haldane,  and  when  the  building  was  fin- 
ished, he  proposed  to  convey  it  in  perpetuity  to  his 
brother.  James,  however,  declined  this,  saying  that 
so  long  as  it  was  devoted  to  religious  purposes,  it 
was  as  well  in  his  brother's  hands,  who  could  at  his 
death  make  what  arrangements  he  pleased.  In  May, 
1801,  the  Tabernacle  was  opened  for  public  service, 
and  within  its  walls  James  Haldane  preached  for 
nearly  fifty  years,  counting  it  his  highest  privilege  to 
minister  in  the  gospel  of  Christ.  Its  seats  were  at 
first  partially,  and  in  after-years  entirely  free  to  the 
public,  and  whatever  was  obtained  by  collections  or 
subscriptions,  after  paying  the  current  expenses  of 
worship,  was  devoted  to  the  extension  of  the  gospel. 
Mr.  Aikman  soon  afterwards  erected  at  his  own  ex- 
pense, except  a  donation  of  three  or  four  hundred 


REV.  A.  KIRKWOOD.  153 

pounds  from  Eobert  Haldane,  a  new  house  of  wor- 
ship in  another  part  of  the  city.  *^' 

As  might  be  expected,  the  young  men  who  studied 
in  Edinburgh,  preparing  for  the  ministry,  usually 
attended  on  the  preaching  of  James  Haldane,  who 
took  a  deep  interest  in  their  studies  and  their  pros- 
pects. In  the  week  evening  services  they  usually  took 
a  part.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  one  of  their  num- 
ber, the  late  Rev.  A.  Kirkwood,  for  many  years  a 
faithful  minister  of  Christ  at  Berwick  on  Tweed,  de- 
livered an  address  on  the  importance  of  the  Scriptures 
in  the  conversion  of  sinners.  Mr.  Haldane  misunder- 
stood the  speaker,  and  followed  him  with  a  very  for- 
cible address  on  the  necessity  of  the  agency  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  effecting  that  great  work.  At  the  close 
of  the  service,  several  of  the  students  waited  on  Mr. 
Haldane,  assuring  him  that  he  had  altogether  mis- 
taken their  companion,  who  believed,  fully  and  cor- 
dially, the  doctrine  of  divine  influence.  A  lengthened 
and  searching  conversation  with  his  young  brother 
satisfied  him  that  he  had  done  him  wrong,  and  at  the 
meeting  of  the  following  week,  the  worthy  pastor 
publicly  acknowledged  his  own  mistake,  and  declared 
his  entire  satisfaction  with  his  young  brother  in  a 
manner  which  could  only  be  shown  by  a  truly  mag- 
nanimous mind. 

In  another  way  he  manifested  his  interest  in  their 
improvement,  and  we  may  add,  advanced  his  own. 
He  would  not  unfrequently  invite  a  number  of  them 
to  spend  the  evening  with  him,  and  to  stay  over  the 
night  at  his  house.     The  evening  was  spent  in  his 


164  THE  HALDANES. 

proposing  difficult  scripture  texts  and  knotty  points 
of  theology,  and  inviting  their  opinions  on  these  mat- 
ters. Having  very  carefully  listened  to  their  views, 
and  elicited  whatever  he  could  of  importance  from 
them,  they  separated  to  meet  at  the  breakfast-table 
on  the  following  morning,  when  he  labored  to  confirm' 
or  revise  their  opinions,  and  would  candidly  tell  them 
what  of  advantage  he  had  derived  from  them.  The 
profit  obtained  from  these  interviews  was  beyond  all 
calculation. 

For  the  two  facts  above  given,  we  are  indebted  to 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Maclay. 

Among  the  students  who  had  by  this  time  com- 
pleted their  two  years'  preparation  for  the  ministry, 
and  who  for  the  most  part  scattered  their  labors  over 
Scotland,  was  a  Mr.  Morrison,  who  was  sent  to  itin- 
erate in  the  north  of  Ireland.  He  wrote  in  January, 
1800,  a  letter  to  Robert  Haldane,  in  which  he  thanked 
him  for  his  liberality  in  furnishing  means  for  this  mis- 
sion, and  prayed  that  he  might  be  "  enriched  with  all 
the  blessings  of  that  joyful  sound  which  he  had  been 
so  blessedly  instrumental  in  communicating  to  oth- 
ers." The  success  which  attended  these  first  labors 
in  Ireland,  stimulated  further  exertions  in  the  strong- 
holds of  error  and  superstition. 

In  May,  1801,  James  Haldane  once  more  proceeded 
on  a  preaching  tour  in  the  south  of  Scotland,  taking 
with  him  his  wife  and  children,  whom  he  placed  at 
Dumfries,  from  which  as  a  centre  he  might  radiate  on 
preaching  excursions.  For  four  months  he  preached 
in  Dumfries  every  Lord's  day  to  large  congregations 


JAMES,  AT  DUMFRIES.  155 

in  the  open  air  or  under  a  tent,  and  he  also  preached 
at  least  once  every  day  in  the  neighboring  towns  and 
villages,  except  in  one  week  during  the  harvest.     He 
was  fond  of  riding,  and  had  a  powerful  and  excellent 
little  gray  horse,  which  seemed  as  patient  of  fatigue 
as  its  rider.     Sometimes  in  his  excursions  from  Dum- 
fries, he  would  make  a  circuit  of  fifty  miles  in  one 
day,  and  preach  three  times.     To  the  good  effects  of 
these  labors  there  was  abundant  evidence  during  his 
life,  and  since  his  death  pleasing  testimonies  have 
been  given  of  permanent  happy  results  in  that  neigh- 
borhood, of  which  he  probably  never  heard.     When 
he  had  closed  his  labors  in  that  district,  he  went  over 
to  Ireland,  and  labored  for  four  weeks,  in  company 
with  the  late  Eev.  George   Hamilton  of  Armagh. 
During  this  tout  he  preached  more  than  once  in  Epis- 
copal churches.    In  reference  to  the  students  whom 
his  brother  had  sent  over  to  Ireland,  he  says,  "  The 
Lord  seems  to  have  prepared  the  country  for  the 
young  men,  who  will,  I  trust,  prove  eminently  useful.'' 
In  his  journal,  he  says,  "  I  had  the  happiness  of 
visiting  a  family  of  respectability  as  to  worldly  mat- 
ters, where  I  also  met  with  a  signal  display  of  divine 
grace.     They  were  dissenters,  but  a  dissenting  min- 
ister in  many  parts  of  Ireland  is  only  another  name 
for  Arian  and  Socinian.     They  were  remarkable  for 
gayety ;  and  as  the  family  was  large,  the  young  peo- 
ple sometimes  amused  themselves  by  acting  plays. 
This  went  on  until  within  the  last  two  or  three  years, 
and  now  salvation  is  come  to  that  house,  so  that 
almost  the  whole  family  are  devoted  to  God.     Much 


156  THE  HALDANES. 

as  this  account  pleased  me,  I  was  not  less  gratified  in 
hearing  the  means  which  God  had  employed  in  effect- 
ing the  change.  He  sent  a  pious  young  woman  there 
as  a  servant.  She  was  ridiculed  by  the  young  ladies 
for  her  religion,  but  she  did  not  render  evil  for  evil, 
but  would  allow  them  to  laugh  at  her,  and  then  mildly 
reason  with  them.  She  made  it  her  study  to  be  atten- 
tive and  useful,  and  would  offer  to  read  the  Scriptures 
to  them  when  they  went  to  bed.  They  soon  fell 
asleep  under  the  sound,  but  she  was  not  discouraged. 
Having  exemplified  Christianity  in  her  life,  the  Lord 
sent  a  fever  to  call  her  home  to  himself ;  and  though 
the  young  ladies  were  not  permitted  to  see  her  during 
her  illness,  they  heard  of  her  behavior,  and  it  did  not 
lessen  the  impression  her  conduct  had  made  upon 
them.  Soon  after,  the  two  eldest  made  a  profession 
of  religion  ;  the  little  leaven  spread,  and  now  all  the 
nine  young  ladies  appear  truly  pious.  Nor  is  relig- 
ion in  this  highly  favored  family  confined  to  them. 
Other  means  were  employed  by  God  in  producing  this 
great  change,  but  one  of  the  two  who  first  became 
serious  informed  me  that  she  chiefly  ascribed  it  to  the 
life  and  death  of  the  servant-maid.  What  a  proof  oC 
the  power  of  practical  Christianity !  What  encour- 
agement to  servants,  to  all,  to  '  adorn  the  doctrine  of 
God  our  Saviour.^ 

"  This  house,"  adds  the  journal,  "  is  now  open  for 
the  preaching  of  the  gospel.     Any  pious  minister, 
whether  Established,  itinerant,  or  Methodist,  finds  a    **' 
hearty  welcome.      A  very  short  notice  brings  hun- 
dreds of  the  country-people  together,  and  the  spa-^    4j^' 


JAMES,  IN  IRELAND.  ISt 

cious  rooms  are  thrown  open  for  their  accommoda- 
tion. May  the  blessing  of  Obed-Edom  rest  on  the 
house.  But  the  Lord  did  not  stop  here.  Another 
family  in  the  neighborhood,  nearly  connected  with 
them,  heard  the  tidings  of  all  their  young  friends 
having  run  mad  about  religion.  It  occasioned  much 
anxiety,  and  apprehension  of  the  contagion  spread- 
ing. At  last,  the  mother  of  the  latter  family  went  to 
see  how  things  were.  She  belonged  to  the  Estab- 
lished church,  and  when  she  visited  her  friends,  Mr. 
Mathias  of  the  Bethesda  chapel,  Dublin,  a  pious  and 
able  clergyman,  was  there.  His  preaching  and  con- 
versation were  much  blessed  to  her,  and  now  that 
family  rivals  the  other  in  singing,  '  Oh,  to  grace  how 
much  indebted.'  I  preached  in  the  latter*  house  to 
about  two  hundred  people,  although  the  neighbors 
had  only  been  warned  [informed]  during  the  day. 
The  kindness  I  met  with  in  both  families  was  great, 
and  it  was  doubly  pleasant  as  it  was  conferred  for 
His  sake  who  is  able  to  reward  it,  and  who  will  not 
suffer  a  cup  of  cold  water  given  in  his  name  to  pass 
unnoticed." 

In  1804,  in  a  subsequent  visit  to  Ireland,  James 
Haldane  was  received  at  Omagh,  at  the  house  of  the 
late  James  Buchanan,  Esq.,  who  was  afterwards  so 
Well  known  as,  for  many  years,  the  British  consul  at 
New  York.  In  writing  to  Mrs.  Haldane,  nearly  half  a 
century  afterwards,  from  Quebec,  Canada,  under  date 
of  June,  1851,  and  shortly  before  his  own  decease, 
this  gentleman  said,  "I  first  had  the  pleasure  of  see- 
ing Mr.  Haldane  in  1804,  who  stayed  a  night  at  my 


158  THE  HALDANES. 

house.  I  recollect,  on  Ms  being  requested  to  lead  our 
family  worship,  lie  read  the  first  chapter  of  the  first 
epistle  of  Peter,  and  his  observations  were  deeply- 
impressed  on  my  wife.  I  have  reflected  often  on  the 
many  blessings  I  have  derived  from  Bible  friends. 
All  other  favors  or  friendships  are  deficient  in  those 
feelings  which  affect  the  heart.  They  are  fleeting, 
and  pass  away.  It  was  from  that  meeting  I  became 
acquainted  with  his  brother,  Kobert  Haldane,  and 
through  him  with  your  ever  valued  and  esteemed 
father,  Mr.  Hardcastle.  I  am  now  in  my  eightieth 
year,  and  am  declining  fast,  but  I  have  my  tomb  built 
near  my  house  ;  I  believe  I  told  you  I  have  engraved 
on  it,  '  God  forbid  that  I  should  glory,  save  in  the 
cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.'  May  the  Lord  lead 
us  to  hold  fast  our  trust  in  him." 

When  James  Haldane  returned  from  Dumfries,  in 
1801,  with  his  family,  Catherine,  their  second  child, 
then  about  six  years  of  age,  was  in  delicate  health. 
She  lingered  till  the  June  following,  when  she  died, 
not  without  first  giving  blessed  evidence  that  she  fell 
asleep  in  Jesus.  Her  affectionate  father  published 
an  interesting  little  memoir  of  her,  remarkable  for 
its  truthful  simplicity,  and  strongly  indicating  his 
desire  to  glorify  Clirist  by  being  useful  to  children. 
It  ran  through  about  twelve  large  editions ;  it  was 
widely  circulated  by  the  venerable  John  Newton,  who 
much  admired  it,  was  translated  into  Danish  by  the 
late  Rev.  Dr.  Henderson,  and  has  long  been  published 
by  the  American  Tract  Society  in  their  Children's 
Series.     This  little  narrative  is  exceedingly  valuable 


JAMES,  IN  HIS  FAMILY.  159 

as  showing  the  character  of  the  bereaved  father. 
Occupied  as  he  was  with  a  large  church  and  congre- 
gation, constantly  called  upon,  whether  at  home  or 
abroad,  to  preach  in  the  villages,  and  exemplary  in 
visiting  the  sick,  he  never  forgot  that  his  first  duty  ., 
was  at  home.  There  his  affections  centred,  and  there 
it  was  his  study  to  win  the  confidence  and  love  of  his 
children  by  the  most  endearing  sympathy,  both  with 
their  studies  and  amusements,  and  especially  to  train 
them  up  in  the  "nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord." 
Every  night  did  he  pray  beside  the  bed  of  his  droop- 
ing child,  and  gently  did  he  lead  her  to  the  feet  of  the 
Saviour  whom  he  served.  Great  joy  reigned  through 
the  house  when  it  was  known  that  any  rare  circum- 
stance detained  him  at  home  on  the  Lord's  day  even- 
ing. His  children  gathered  round  his  chair,  while  he 
examined  them  as  to  their  knowledge  of  the  Bible, 
listened  to  the  hymns  or  portions  of  the  Scriptures 
they  repeated,  or  interested  them  by  the  recital  of 
stories  after  the  manner  of  the  parables,  in  which  the 
imagination  was  gratified,  while  truth  was  imprinted 
on  their  hearts.  But  in  nothing  was  his  habitual 
communion  with  God  more  visible  than  in  the  sur- 
passing value  which  at  all  times  he  attached  to  pray- 
er. With  this  he  parted  with  any  of  his  family  when 
going  to  a  distance ;  with  prayer  and  thanksgiving 
he  welcomed  them  on  their  return ;  with  prayer  he 
taught  them  to  ask  the  blessing  of  God  in  every  thing 
which  concerned  them  ;  and  all  this  made  his  home 
happy  and  religion  attractive. 

Among  the  young  ministers  who  about  this  time 


^v,'' 


160  -    TSE  HALDANES. 

entered  what  began  to  be  called  "the  Tabernacle 
connection,"  was  Ealph  Wardlaw,  afterwards  Doctor 
Wardlaw,  an  eminently  laborious  and  successful  pas- 
tor at  Glasgow,  till  lie  died,  after  preaching  to  his 
charge  for  more  than  half  a  century  "  the  unsearch- 
able riches  of  Christ."  He  might  have  boasted  of 
descent  from  the  old  monarchs  of  Scotland,  but  he 
was  more  gratified  that  the  blood  of  the  excellent 
Erskines  flowed  in  his  veins.  Before  he  was  twelve 
years  of  age,  this  remarkable  young  man,  who  had 
already  become  a  good  Latin  and  Greek  scholar,  en- 
tered the  university  of  Glasgow,  where  he  received 
several  prizes  for  his  surprising  attainments.  Uniting 
with  Mr.  Greville  Swing's  Congregational  church  at 
Glasgow,  Mr.  Wardlaw  studied  for  the  ministry  under 
Dr.  George  Lawson,  eminent  for  his  biblical  learn- 
ing. In  1803  a  new  house  of  worship  was  dedicated 
in  Glasgow,  where,  to  a  congregation  raised  by  him- 
self, the  zealous  minister  dedicated  all  his  powers. 
His  success,  under  God,  must  be  in  no  small  degree 
ascribed  to  the  practice  then  universal  in  the  Scottish 
churches  of  all  evangelical  denominations,  of  devoting 
one  part  of  the  Lord's  day  to  the  regular  and  contin- 
uous exposition  of  the  several  books  of  Scripture. 
Dr.  W.  L.  Alexander  of  Edinburgh,  the  biographer 
of  Dr.  Wardlaw,  very  properly  says,  '•  To  this  usage, 
affording  so  much  scope  for  the  elucidation  of  divine 
truth  in  the  form  in  which  it  issued  from  the  in- 
spired pens,  and  constraining  the  speaker  to  withdraw 
from  mere  general  disquisition  or  declamation,  and 
to  follow  the  footsteps  of  the  divine  Teacher,  must  be 


REV.  DR.  WARDLAW.  161 

ascribed  principally  that  extent  and  accurary  of  scrip- 
tural knowledge  in  which  the  Scottish  people,  as  a 
mass,  undoubtedly  surpass  all  other  nations." 

The  reader  must  have  often  observed,  as  he  has 
read  the  biography  of  eminent  men,  that  some  kind 
word  "fitly  spoken,"  under  peculiar  circumstances, 
has  produced  beneficial  results  in  after-years.  So 
was  it  with  the  eminent  man  of  whom  we  are  now 
speaking.  In  the  very  earliest  period  of  his  ministry, 
young  Wardlaw,  just  fresh  from  his  literary  and  sci- 
entific studies,  and  supposing  that  what  had  com- 
manded plaudits  in  the  class-room  was  equally  suited 
for  the  pulpit,  delivered  a  finely  wrought  sermon. 
After  he  had  done  so,  his  maternal  uncle,  Ewing 
Maclae,  said  to  him,  "  Ralph,  did  you  notice  that  poor 
woman  in  the  duffle  cloak,  that  sat  under  the  pulpit 
when  you  were  preaching  to-day?"  ^'Yes,  sir." 
"Well,  my  man,  remember,  remember  that  people 
like  her  have  souls  as  well  as  their  betters,  and  that 
a  minister's  business  is  to  feed  the  poor  and  illiterate, 
as  well  as  the  rich  and  the  educated.  Your  sermon 
to-day  was  a  very  ingenious  and  well-composed  dis- 
course, but  there  was  n't  a  word  in  it  for  the  poor  old 
woman  in  the  duffle  cloak."  This  "word  in  season" 
sunk  into  the  heart  of  the  young  minister,  and  never 
during  his  long  ministry  did  he  again  need  such  a 
hint ;  nor  did  he  ever  forget  to  impress  on  the  minds 
of  the  many  young  men  who  studied  under  his  care 
for  the  ministry,  the  lesson  he  had  received  from  his 
plain  but  truly  excellent  relative. 


162  THE  HALDANES. 


CHAPTER  YIII.  ,.       i 

JAMES  HALDANE'S  ITINERANCIES  AND  OTHER 
LABORS. 

1802  TO   1805. 

As  we  have  seen,  during  five  summers,  beginning 
with  that  of  1797,  James  Haldane  had  devoted  him- 
self to  long  and  laborious  itinerancies  to  preach  the 
gospel.  Nor  did  he  in  the  summer  of  1802  seek 
repose ;  but  when  it  was  needful  to  take  his  wife  and 
eldest  child  to  Buxton,  in  Derbyshire,  to  recruit  their 
health  and  spirits,  he  went  with  a  soul  burning  with 
love  and  zeal  for  Christ,  determined  to  invite  sinners 
to  the  cross ;  and  happily  did  his  journey  lead  to  a 
season  of  holy  revival.  At  the  hotel  where  they 
stayed  he  made  known  the  gospel  of  mercy  to  many 
of  the  boarders ;  and  in  the  ball-room  he  preached 
the  knowledge  of  Jesus,  being  cordially  welcomed  by 
an  Irish  bishop,  as  also  by  his  son,  a  pious  clergyman 
who  accompanied  him  on  several  preaching  excur- 
sions in  the  neighborhood.  Many  interesting  circum- 
stances were  connected  with  his  labors  in  Buxton, 
Macclesfield,  Matlock,  and  other  places,  where  he 
proclaimed  the  message  of  salvation  in  the  towns, 
villages,  hamlets,  and  green  hill-sides  of  Derbyshire 
and  Staffordshire.  Everywhere  his  preaching  was 
acceptable,  and  often  was  it  seen  that  the  "  word  was 
with  power." 

We  must  glance  here  for  a  moment  at  the  results 


MR.  FARQUHARSON.  163 

of  former  labors.  The  reader  recollects  the  visit,  a 
few  years  before  this  period,  of  Messrs.  Simeon  and 
Haldane  to  the  manse  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Stewart  of 
Moulin,  and  the  result  of  their  labors  in  his  conver- 
sion :  that  gentleman  now  reported  the  conversion  of 
eighty  persons  since  that  happy  time;  and  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Dunkeld,  another  minister  reported 
one  hundred  and  forty-five  persons  whom  he  had 
ascertained  to  be  the  fruits  of  these  itinerating  labors  ; 
and  in  Aberfeldie  fifty-seven  attributed  their  conver- 
sion, under  God,  to  the  labors  of  Robert  Haldane's 
missionaries.  The  reverend  and  excellent  Mr.  Garie, 
of  whom  the  reader  has  already  heard,  had  died  a 
little  before  this  period,  and  shortly  before  that  event 
said,  in  a  beautiful  letter,  that  he  had  received  seven- 
teen candidates  for  church-fellowship,  most  of  them 
young  persons  and  newly  awakened.  At  the  close  of 
this  letter  the  good  man  added,  "  In  general  I  feel  a 
willingness  to  leave  the  world  whenever  my  Master 
shall  call  me,  yet  I  have  often,  on  a  Saturday,  felt  a 
peculiar  unwillingness  to  die  till  the  Sabbath  was 
over." 

But  the  most  remarkable  revival  of  religion  of 
this  period  occurred  at  Breadalbane,  by  means  of  a 
Mr.  Farquharson,  a  catechist  of  lowly  origin,  who 
had  been  recommended  to  Robert  Haldane's  class  of 
students  for  the  ministry  on  account  of  his  earnest 
piety  and  zeal.  It  was  soon  ascertained,  however, 
that  his  capacity  for  learning  scarcely  justified  his 
persevering  in  academical  studies.  At  the  end  of 
his  first  six  months,  he  was  sent  to  Breadalbane  to 


164  THE  HALDANES. 

see  whether  he  could  be  of  use  as  a  Scripture-reader 
among  the  poor  and  uneducated  Highlanders.  At 
that  period  the  whole  neighborhood  was  entirely  des- 
titute of  evangelical  preaching ;  not  a  Bible  was  to 
be  found,  very  few  New  Testaments,  and  the  people 
lived  without  prayer.  So  great  was  the  opposition 
to  this  devoted  catechist  and  reader  of  the  Scriptures, 
that,  in  a  circle  of  thirty-two  miles  round  loch  Tay, 
there  were  only  three  families  who  would  receive 
him,  and  every  inn  and  public-house  was  shut  against 
him.  But  He  who  often  chooses  "the  weak  things  of 
the  world  to  confound  the  mighty,"  had  ordained  the 
eminent  success  of  this  worthy  man.  In  spite  of  oppo- 
sition and  neglect,  he  went,  during  the  whole  winter, 
from  village  to  village,  reading  the  Bible,  and  speak- 
ing the  words  of  salvation  to  all  who  would  listen  to 
him.  In  the  early  part  of  1802  so  extraordinary  a 
revival  had  been  gradually  brought  about,  that  one 
hundred  persons,  previously  ignorant  of  the  gospel, 
seemed  to  he  converted.  Mr.  Kinniburgh,  in  his 
"  Historical  Sketch,"  says,  "  Families  were  divided, 
false  reports  were  raised  and  circulated  for  the  pur- 
pose of  bringing  the  new  converts  into  disrepute. 
Violent  measures  were  devised  and  accomplished  to 
deprive  them  of  their  houses  and  farms,  and  in  not  a 
few  cases  were  their  lives  in  danger ;  but  they  '  took 
joyfully  the  spoiling  of  their  goods,  knowing  that  in 
heaven  they  had  a  better  and  enduring  substance.' 
They  thought  less  of  their  sufferings  than  of  the  hap- 
piness of  suffering  for  Christ.  Here  it  deserves  to  be 
noticed,  that  when  the  work  was  going  on  in  Bread- 


MR.  FARQUHARSON.  -         165 

albane,  there  were  instances  in  which,  when  the  con- 
verts acted  with  decision,  persecution  gradually  sub- 
sided, but  when  there  was  apparent  wavering  it  in- 
creased." 

One  illustration  may  here  be  given  as  to  the  char- 
acter and  conduct  of  the  new  converts.  A  number  of 
young  men  were  addicted  to  poaching,  or  stealing  the 
game  on  the  Earl  of  Breadalbane's  estates,  and  were 
annually  brought  before  his  lordship,  who  usually  dis- 
missed them  with  a  threatening  reproof.  One  of 
these,  who  was  also  a  smuggler,  had  his  attention 
drawn  to  the  gospel,  and  was  converted.  The  next 
time  the  poachers  were  brought  before  the  distin- 
guished earl,  he  missed  the  smuggler,  and  asked  what 
had  become  of  him.  The  gamekeeper  replied,  "  My 
lord,  he  has  become  a  missionary,  and  will  never 
trouble  us  again."  His  lordship  observed,  "  I  wish 
all  these  young  men  were  missionaries."  This  same 
young  man  had  been  in  the  habit  of  illegally  making 
malt  without  paying  the  accustomed  duty ;  but  after 
he  embraced  the  gospel,  he  had  no  peace  of  mind 
until  he  had  informed  the  government  officers  of  his 
conduct,  and  delivered  to  the  excise  all  the  malt  he 
had  in  his  possession. 

In  1802,  Mr.  Farquharson,  the  humble  devoted 
man  through  whom  this  revival  occurred,  was  himself 
sent  a  prisoner  to  Aberdeen  for  preaching  the  gospel 
in  Braemar.  He  had  not,  however,  been  many  hours 
in  jail  before  a  lawyer  waited  upon  him,  and  placed 
a  book  in  his  hand,  saying  that  a  part  of  it  was  writ- 
ten in  the  very  cell  in  which  he  was  confined.    The 


106  THE  HALDANES; 

lawyer  added,  "Read  it,  and  you  will  soon  be  set'  at 
liberty,"  and  immediately  retired.  To  bis  no  small 
surprise,  Mr.  Farqubarson  found  tbe  volume  to  be 
"Rutberford's  Letters."  As  be  read  of  tbe  sufferings 
of  tbat  godly  man,  be  felt  bis  own  to  be  compara- 
tively ligbt,  and  be  was  soon  released  by  tbe  friendly 
intervention  of  bis  visitor,  wbo  was  better  acquainted 
witb  tbe  Toleration  Act  tban  tbe  preacber's  perse- 
cutors. 

Tbe  accounts  of  success  at  Caitbness  were  even 
still  more  deligbtful.  Wbile  tbe  missionaries  were 
sending  bome  tbe  intelligence  from  Bread  albane  and 
elsewbere  wbicb  we  bave  just  given,  Mr.  Clegborn, 
tbe  excellent  pastor  of  Wick,  wbo  bad  before,  as  we 
bave  seen,  mentioned  forty  seals  to  James  Haldane's 
ministry  in  tbat  tour,  now  wrote  of  one  bundred  and 
twenty  as  giving  evidence  of  tbe  power  of  trutb  -,  and 
adds,  tbat  at  Tburso  tbe  gospel  bad  been  at  least 
equally  successful.  Encouraged  by  tbese  facts,  James 
Haldane  determined  to  visit,  in  company  witb  Mr. 
Campbell,  tbe  scenes  of  bis  first  itinerancy,  as  also 
Breadalbane  and  its  vicinity.  Tbey  travelled  on 
borseback,  attended  by  James  Haldane's  faitbful  ser- 
vant, Daniel  Macartbur,  a  pious  Higblander,  wbose 
knowledge  of  Gaelic  made  bim  especially  serviceable 
in  tbe  Celtic  districts.  On  tbe  first  Lord's  day  after 
tbeir  departure  from  Edinburgb,  James  Haldane 
preacbed  in  tbe  Tabernacle  of  Pertb,  from  a  text  sin- 
gularly appropriate  to  tbe  errand  of  mercy  on  wbich 
be  was  bound  :  "  Go  and  proclaim  tbese  words  tow- 
ards the  north,  and  say,  Return,  tbou  backsliding  Is- 


MR.  LACHLAN  MACKINTOSH.  16T 

rael,  saith  the  Lord,  and  I  will  not  keep  anger  for 
ever."     Jer.  3:12.  >;      -y 

One  of  James  Haldane's  hearers  at  Perth,  and 
that  for  the  first  time,  was  Mr.  Lachlan  Mackintosh, 
who  was  soon  after  admitted  into  the  seminary  at 
Edinburgh,  and  afterwards  became  the  diligent  and 
successful  agent  of  the  Baptist  Home  Missionary  So- 
ciety for  Scotland.  Mr.  Mackintosh  relates  how,  ^ 
after  the  sermon,  while  a  group  of  ministers  and 
others  were  gathered  round  the  preacher,  he  was 
introduced  to  James  Haldane,  who  engaged  him  to 
announce  the  sermons  as  far  north  as  Mr.  Mackin- 
tosh had  to  go,  and  twenty  miles  further.  Mr.  Mack- 
intosh says,  "  Though  at  this  distance  of  time  I  cannot 
remember  the  sermons,  I  well  remember  their  effects, 
both  on  myself  and  others.  First,  our  views  were 
brightened  and  our  hearts  encouraged  in  the  ways  of 
the  Lord.  The  sermons  I  had  been  used  to  hear  were 
a  complete  jumble  of  grace  and  works — our  endeavors 
and  the  sufferings  of  the  Son  of  God.  Often  there 
was  nothing  about  Christ  at  all,  but  that  God  was 
merciful ;  so  that  I  could  not  tell  on  what  I  was  to 
trust  for  salvation.  But  in  the  sermons  I  heard  from 
Mr.  Haldane  the  distinction  was  made  in  the  clearest 
and  most  solemn  manner.  The  sinner  was  shown  to 
be  a  guilty,  helpless  rebel,  and  all  his  righteousness  ' 
as  filthy  rags.  Isa.  64:6.  Then  Christ  was  pro- 
claimed as  a  glorious  and  all-sufiicient  Saviour,  his 
righteousness  free  to  all  who  believed ;  while  all  who 
believed  would  be  constrained  by  love  to  obedience, 
not  in  order  to  save  themselves,  but  because  they 


168  THE  HALDANES. 

were  saved  by  his  blood.  The  text  which  he  quoted 
to  me,  on  parting,  I  never  can  forget :  '  Cleave  to  the 
Lord  with  purpose  of  heart.'  It  was  a  text  which 
might  have  been  the  motto  of  both  the  brothers  from 
the  day  they  first  knew  the  grace  of  God  in  truth." 

On  arriving  in  Breadalbane,  and  carefully  ascer- 
taining the  state  of  things,  our  missionaries  were 
enabled  to  report  that  there  had  been  no  exaggera- 
tion, but  that  there  was  really  "  a  great  cloud  of  wit- 
nesses "  to  the  power  of  divine  truth,  who  were  living 
by  faith  on  the  Son  of  God,  waiting  for  his  glorious 
appearance.  A  pestilential  fever  was  raging  in  the 
country,  and  prevented  many  from  hearing  the  preach- 
er, but  it  did  not  hinder  either  of  the  itinerants  from 
visiting  the  sick  and  dying. 

After  being  separated  some  time,  preaching  and 
visiting  in  several  districts,  James  Haldane  and  John 
Campbell  met  at  Dalwhinnie,  where,  in  the  month  of 
June,  the  snow  was  deep  on  the  hills,  and  still  thickly 
falling ;  they  had  a  large  peat  fire,  but  yet  needed 
their  overcoats.  Yet  on  the  next  day  they  preached 
at  Balden,  to  about  four  hundred  people,  at  the  side 
of  a  birch-wood,  which  sheltered  them  from  the  cold 
wind.  Mr.  Haldane  also  preached  in  the  wood  of 
Aviemore,  and  in  many  other  places.  The  north  side 
of  the  Frith  was  once  called  the  Holy  Land,  because 
it  contained  so  many  faithful  ministers,  but  they  could 
not  now  hear  of  one  who  fully  preached  the  gospel  of 
redeeming  mercy.  Cold  as  the  weather  was,  the  days 
were  now  so  long  that  James  Haldane  could  read  a 
small  New  Testament  on  the  mountain  at  eleven 


JAMES'    ITINERANCIES.  1G9 

o'clock  at  night.  They  passed  on  to  John  o'  Groat's 
house,  and  visited  a  number  of  the  islands  on  their 
great  errand  of  sovereign  mercy.  .    *f* 

It  would  be  easy  to  fill  many  pages  with  an  ac- 
count of  the  hardships  experienced  by  these  heralds 
of  the  cross  on  this  tour ;  of  these,  however,  James 
Haldane  seldom  spoke,  and  then  only  as  a  matter  of 
amusement.  At  one  place  they  were  in  the  street  of 
a  small  village,  seeking  in  vain  for  a  place  of  refuge 
at  ten  o'clock  at  night,  but  were  at  length  directed 
to  a  farm-house,  where  they  were  cordially  received. 
Next  day,  as  Mr.  Campbell  tells  us,  they  went  into  a 
house,  hoping  to  receive  refreshment,  yet  afraid  to 
pffend  by  offering  payment,  but  got  nothing  but  a  cup 
of  milk  and  water.  They  then  walked  about  an- 
nouncing another  sermon,  until  they  were  tired.  At 
length  they  called  at  the  house  of  a  slater,  where  they 
were  hospitably  supplied  with  bread,  milk,  and  cheese. 
Damp  sheets,  hard  beds,  or  none  at  all,  and  a  scanty 
supply  of  food,  were  their  common  lot.  But  they  had 
both  learned  to  endure  hardness  as  good  soldiers  of 
Jesus  Christ,  to  sympathize  with  the  far  greater  pri- 
vations of  the  first  missionaries  of  the  gospel,  and  to 
regard  them  only  as  trifles  incident  to  their  great 
campaign. 

Shortly  after  their  return  from  the  north,  in  the 
month  of  September,  our  heralds  unitedly  took  a  jour- 
ney on  the  same  errand  to  the  south  of  Scotland,  and 
the  north  of  England.  After  hearing  one  of  James 
Ilaldane's  sermons  at  Garlieston,  the  Earl  of  Gallo- 
way inyited  them  to  his  house,  and  offered  them  a 

Kaldanee.  8  » 


no  THE  HALDANES. 

site  for  a  house  of  worship.  At  Wigton  the  provost 
supped  with  them  at  the  hotel.  This  gentleman  had 
been  accustomed  to  allow  James  Haldane  the  use  of 
the  town-hall  for  preaching.  The  first  time  he  did 
so,  he  hesitated,  and  was  cheerfully  met  by  Mr.  Hal- 
dane requesting  permission  to  announce  the  sermon 
by  means  of  the  bellman.  The  reply  of  the  provost 
was,  "  No,  no,  sir ;  you  cannot  preach  here."  James 
Haldane's  answer  was,  "  I  do  not  ask  liberty  to  preach, 
but  to  ring"  "Then  you  will  preach?"  "Yes,  cer- 
tainly." "  Yery  well,  you  may  send  out  the  bell- 
man." 

In  1802,  the  Rev.  Andrew  Fuller  made  a  second 
journey  to  Scotland,  and  his  letters  contain  an  account 
of  his  progress,  during  which  he  was  accompanied  by 
the  truly  excellent  Mr.  Wardlaw  of  Glasgow,  of 
whom  Mr.  Fuller  now  spoke  as  "a  young  man  of 
promising  character."  Mr.  Wardlaw  was  educated 
for  the  ministry  in  the  Burgher  secession,  which  he 
had  left  for  the  "  Tabernacle  connection."  Mr.  Fuller 
thus  wrote,  "  On  Friday  the  seventeenth,  I  rose  early, 
and  went  to  see  the  town  and  castle  before  breakfast. 
Stirling  is  a  most  romantic  situation,  the  finest  spot  I 
have  seen  in  Scotland.  Here  the  Scottish  kings  used 
occasionally  to  reside.  I  suppose  it  was  their  sum- 
mer-house. Near  this  is  the  late  seat  of  Kobert  Hal- 
dane, Esq.,  a  seat  which  a  Scottish  nobleman  has  pro- 
nounced to  be  'a  perfect  heaven  upon  earth -/  but 
which  he  sold,  and  has  ever  since  lived  in  a  recluse 
style  of  life,  laying  out  thousands  every  year  for  the 
propagation  of  the  gospel  in  Scotland  and  Ireland. 


ROBERT'S  CARE  FOR  THE  CONTINENT.  lU 

*  Oh/  say  the  gentry,  'he  must  have  some  deep  scheme 
in  his  head.'  Some  of  the  clergy  cannot  endure  him, 
but  he  has  great  interest  with  the  common  people. 
He  is  a  great  economist,  in  order  to  be  generous.'' 

While  Kobert  Haldane  was  all  this  time  fully 
occupying  his  time  and  talents,  and  employing  his 
large  wealth  in  sustaining  public  worship,  and  in 
training  young  men  for  the  ministry  not  only  in  Edin- 
burgh and  elsewhere  in  Scotland,  under  the  care  of 
Messrs.  Aikman,  Campbell,  Wemyss,  Stephens,  Ham- 
ilton, Ballantyne,  and  Mackintosh,  but  in  Paris  and 
Ireland,  even  at  this  early  period  he  was  not  indiffer- 
ent to  the  claims  of  tlie  continent  of  Europe.  He 
endeavored  to  persuade  a  pious  merchant  to  settle  at 
Leghorn  to  extend  the  gospel  throughout  Italy ;  and 
afterwards  proposed  to  an  able  Irish  minister  to  com- 
mence a  mission  in  Germany.  These  did  not  succeed 
to  the  extent  of  his  wishes,  but  it  was  well  that  it 
was  in  his  heart,  and  by  his  constant  intercourse  with 
the  young  ministers  by  whom  he  was  surrounded,  he 
was  unconsciously  preparing  for  the  great  work  of  his 
later  years. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1804,  James  Haldane  preach- 
ed a  remarkable  sermon  on  the  death  of  Thomas  Pitt, 
second  Baron  of  Camelford,  who  was  mortally  wound- 
ed in  a  duel  by  a  Captain  Best,  and  died  four  days 
afterwards.  This  sad  catastrophe  produced  an  ex- 
traordinary public  sensation,  following  as  it  did  an- 
other duel  occasioned  by  a  wretched  quarrel  about 
the  dogs  of  the  contending  parties.  These  events 
aroused  attention  to  the  miserable  fruits  of  the  world's    i^ 


n2  THE  HALDANES. 

code  of  honor,  in  submission  to  which  a  young  noble- 
man, at  the  age  of  twenty-nine,  nephew  to  the  great 
Earl  of  Chatham,  and  cousin  to  the  prime-minister, 
had  forfeited  his  own  life,  extinguished  a  peerage,  and 
sacrificed  a  large  fortune.  Lord  Camelford  had  fine 
natural  talents,  which  had  been  greatly  improved  by 
the  pains  his  uncle  had  taken  with  his  education,  and 
by  the  series  of  letters  which  that  illustrious  noble- 
man addressed  to  him,  and  which  have  since  been 
published.  In  literature  and  science  he  was  a  great 
proficient ;  and  it  is  painful  to  add,  that  he  had  ac- 
quired both  in  the  navy  and  in  the  circles  of  fashion 
the  reputation  of  a  first-rate  shot.  The  unhappy  event 
between  these  gentlemen  occurred  through  the  insti- 
gation of  an  abandoned  woman,  then  under  the  pro- 
tection of  Lord  Camelford,  who  falsely  accused  her 
former  protector,  Captain  Best,  of  having  spoken  dis- 
respectfully of  his  lordship.  Lord  Camelford  stated, 
both  in  his  will,  and  with  his  dying  lips,  that  he  him- 
self was  alone  to  blame,  but  his  pride  would  not  allow 
him  to  make  the  acknowledgment  in  form.  They 
fired,  his  lordship  was  wounded,  was  taken  home,  and 
in  a  few  days  died. 

Of  Lord  Camelford,  a  clergyman  wrote  a  singular 
article  in  the  newspaper  of  the  day,  descriptive  of  the 
contradictory  features  in  his  character,  concluding 
with  strangely  sanctioning  the  idea  expressed  by  the 
dying  peer,  that  he  hoped  the  agonies  of  his  death-bed 
might  be  an  expiation  for  the  sins  of  his  life. 

No  one  who  knew  James  Haldane  could  be  sur- 
prised that  his  spirit  was  stirred  within  him,  when  he 


JAMES,  ON  DUELLING.  It3 

saw  these  statements  circulated  and  read  with  avidity. 
As  the  public  mind  was  fixed  on  the  romantic  char- 
acter of  Lord  Camelford,  as  drawn  by  his  reverend 
apologist,  a  Fellow  of  St.  John's,  Cambridge,  who  had 
attended  his  death-bed,  Mr.  Haldane  thought  that  he 
might  thus  be  useful  to  some  who  would  not  other-, 
wise  hear  the  gospel.  He  therefore  announced  that, 
without  the  possibility  of  injuring  the  dead,  and  in 
the  hope  of  doing  good  to  the  living,  it  was  his  inten- 
tion to  preach,  on  the  next  Lord's  day,  on  the  death  of 
Lord  Camelford.  It  was  understood  that  James  Hal- 
dane meant  to  examine  and  expose  the  sin  of  this 
melancholy  affair.  Familiar  as  he  had  been  for  many 
years  with  a  seafaring  life,  and  once  himself  under 
the  tyranny  of  these  miserable  "  laws  of  honor,"  there 
was  no  man  better  qualified  to  discuss  the  subject. 
The  fear  of  God  was  now  his  governing  principle,  yet 
it  required  more  than  common  fortitude  to  meet  such 
a  case  before  such  an  audience. 

The  spacious  edifice  in  which  James  Haldane 
preached,  then  capable  of  seating  more  than  three 
thousand  persons,  was  crowded  to  the  doors.  It 
occurred  just  at  the  time  of  the  threatened  invasion 
of  England  by  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  when  the  whole 
British  nation  resounded  with  the  clangor  of  arms, 
%YLd  the  most  peaceful  civilians  were  often  arrayed 
in  military  costume.  When  he  entered  the  pulpit, 
there  were  before  him,  not  only  the  usual  congrega- 
tion, but  officers  in  full  uniform  from  Piershill  bar- 
racks and  the  castle — cavalry,  infantry,  artillery,  and 
volunteers,  officers  on  Lord  Moira^s  staff,  magistrates, 


174  THE  HALDANES.       ;        ' 

men  of  letters  and  philosophers,  men  of  business  and 
retired  gentlemen,  all  assembled  to  hear  what  might 
be  said  in  reprobation  of  duelling,  and  of  the  account 
which  had  been  circulated  in  print.  It  was  a  great 
occasion ;  he  selected  no  particular  passage  of  Scrip- 
ture on  which  to  found  his  discourse,  but  the  narra- 
tive of  the  facts  themselves,  justifying  this  mode  of 
proceeding  by  our  Lord's  discoursing  on  the  fall  of 
the  tower  of  Siloam.  The  late  Rev.  Christopher  An- 
derson, who  heard  the  soul-stirring  discourse,  said  of 
it,  about  fifty  years  afterwards,  "  In  his  address,  Mr. 
Haldane  took  up  the  statements  made  in  the  public 
prints,  paragraph  by  paragraph,  exposing  and  repro- 
bating it,  as  he  went  on,  in  a  manner  which  such  a 
man  alone  could  do.  The  immense  audience  was  still 
throughout,  in  awe  before  his  earnest  manner  and 
thrilling  language ;  and  some  then  present,  and  yet 
alive,  well  remember  that  solemn  scene  to  this  hour." 
In  the  spring  of  1805,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, who  travelled  from  London  for  the  purpose, 
James  Haldane  made  another  tour  by  way  of  Perth 
.  and  Dunkeld,  into  Breadalbane,  where  they  sepa- 
rated, and  the  people  came  to  hear  the  gospel  by 
thousands.  At  Killen,  two  years  before,  they  could 
not  hear  of  one  earnest  Christian,  but  now  there  were 
a  goodly  number  of  true  disciples.  We  have  before 
us  a  very  pleasant  narrative  of  James  Haldane's  prog- 
ress from  Breadalbane  through  Strathspey,  written 
by  Mr.  Peter  Grant,  a  pious  preacher,  and  who  was 
also  called  by  his  countrymen  the  Gaelic  poet,  a  few 
sentences  of  which  will  be  given.    He  says, 


JAMES'  ITINERANCIES.  175 

"  The  novelty  of  a  field-preacher,  especially  a  gen-- 
tleman,  attracted  multitudes.  In  a  short  time  the 
whole  country  was  in  a  stir.  Many  said  that  we  were 
all  in  a  lost  condition ;  others  endeavored,  by  argu- 
ment and  ridicule,  to  banish  all  their  fears ;  but  the 
gospel  kindled  a  flame  at  that  time  which  I  hope  is  not 
yet  extinguished.  I  was  young,  and  had  but  little  con- 
cern about  my  own  soul  when  Mr.  Haldane  visited  this 
place.  All  that  I  remember  is,  having  seen  himself 
and  John  Campbell  preach  at  Granton,  on  a  market- 
day.  They  took  their  station  a  little  out  of  the  vil- 
lage, where  a  church  has  been  since  built.  Almost 
the  whole  market  gathered  to  hear.  At  first  they 
thought  to  drown  his  voice  by  laughing  and  sporting, 
but  in  a  short  time  his  powerful  and  commanding 
voice  overcame  all  their  uproar,  and  solemnity  pre^ 
vailed  till  the  end  of  his  discourse.  Some  have  since 
acknowledged  to  me  that  they  received  their  first 
religious  impressions  on  that  occasion. 

"The  children  not  being  accustomed  to  stran- 
gers, especially  a  gentleman,  hid  themselves  in  holes ; 
but  my  wife,  though  as  young  as  myself,  saw  some- 
thing in  him  that  encouraged  her  to  come  near  him ; 
and  often  has  she  shown  me  how  with  his  hand  he 
stroked  her  head,  and  endeavored  to  impress  upon 
her  young  mind  the  importance  of  then  attending  to 
the  concerns  of  her  soul.  The  impressions  then  made 
were  never  effaced.  Another  circumstance  not  to  be 
forgotten  is,  that  he  induced  my  father-in-law  to  set 
up  a  Sabbath-school,  especially  to  read  the  Scriptures 
in  the  Gaelic  language,  for  hitherto  the  children  were 


IIQ  THE  HALDANES. 

only  taught  to  read  English,  of  which,  they  did  not 
understand  one  word.  Thus  James  Haldane  was  the 
founder  of  the  first  Sabbath-school,  so  far  as  I  have 
heard,  in  all  the  north  of  Scotland. 

"  I  was  told  that  Mr.  Haldane,  while  here,  met 
with  a  captain  with  whom  he  was  acquainted  at  sea. 
This  captain  invited  him  to  his  house,  but  in  the  invi^ 
tation  made  use  of  a  great  oath.  Mr.  Haldane  faith- 
fully admonished  him,  but  went  for  a  night  to  his 
house,  and  the  captain  never  again  manifested  hos- 
tility to  religion.  Ever  after  this,  Mr.  Haldane  felt 
a  lively  interest  in  the  cause  of  God  and  truth  in 
Strathspey.  For  many  years  he  and  his  brother  sup- 
ported Mr.  Mackintosh,  as  our  faithful  and  beloved 
pastor,  when  we  could  do  nothing  ourselves  to  sup- 
port him.  We  sought  his  advice  in  all  trying  circum- 
stances, and  we  believe  his  wise  counsels,  as  a  father 
in  Israel,  were  at  least  one  means  of  the  measure  of 
prosperity,  unity,  and  love  that  remained  among  us 
when  many  other  churches  divided  till  they  made 
themselves  a  by-word  and  a  proverb  among  the 
people." 

Our  itinerants  stayed  in  Caithness  for  two  weeks, 
during  which  time  they  visited,  by  the  seashore,  Dun 
Robin  castle,  where  James  Haldane  addressed  a  regi- 
ment of  volunteers,  who,  though  out  on  a  field-day, 
were  dismissed  early,  that  they  might  hear  him  preach. 
This  was  the  last  of  James  Haldane's  prolonged  and 
very  extensive  summer  tours.  In  the  following  year, 
and  at  various  other  times,  he  made  shorter  journeys, 
both  in  the  Highlands  and  the  west  and  north  of 


JAMES'  ITINERANCIES.  Itt 

Scotland,  but  he  was  never  again  absent  for  many- 
weeks  together.  The  number  of  faithful  ministers 
throughout  the  country  was  now  greatly  increased, 
and  the  number  was  still  increasing,  while  the  ever- 
growing congregation  at  the  Tabernacle  demanded 
the  whole  attention  of  its  pastor. 

In  reference  to  the  work  which  had  been  per- 
formed, the  late  Br.  Russell  has  left  this  testimony 
on  record :  "  By  means  of  the  movement  which  took 
place  at  that  period,  there  was  awakened  a  spirit  of 
greater  zeal  in  various  religious  bodies.  A  more 
pointed  manner  of  preaching  was  adopted  by  many. 
There  came  to  be  more  discrimination  of  character. 
The  empty  flourish  of  the  instrument  gave  place  to 
the  well-defined  tones  and  melodies  which  awaken  all 
the  sympathies  of  the  soul.  The  unfettered  freeness 
of  the  gospel  was  more  fully  proclaimed,  while  its 
practical  influence  was  more  distinctly  unfolded.  In 
the  course  of  time,  there  appeared  an  increasing  num- 
ber of  evangelical  ministers  in  the  Establishment,  and 
a  beneficial  influence  was  formed  to  operate  upon 
other  denominations."  In  a  word,  Christ  was  now 
preached,  and  it  concerned,  comparatively,  either  of 
the  Haldanes  but  little  what  agency  was  employed. 


8* 


1T8  THE  HALDANES. 


CHAPTER  IX 


FROM  THE  CHANGES  AS  TO  CHURCH  ORDER, 
TO  THE  DEATH  OF  MRS.  JAMES  HALDANE.   i 

1808  TO  1819. 

Foe  many  years  after  the  existence  of  the  churches 
connected  with  the  Messrs.  Haldane  and  their  friends, 
very  little  discussion  had  taken  place  on  their  disci- 
pline and  order.  It  would  be  useless  to  go  here  into 
the  controversy  which  now  sprung  up  on  that  subject, 
and  we  have  only  referred  to  it  that  we  may  show  the 
feelings  of  these  admirable  men  at  this  trying  period. 
In  writing  to  his  chief  opponent,  Robert  Haldane 
says,  "  On  looking  back  on  the  intercourse  you  and  I 
had,  I  see  many  things  amiss  on  both  sides,  while  I 
trust  there  is  also  cause  for  thanksgiving.  But  while 
we  should  be  humbled  in  the  dust  on  account  of  all 
that  has  been  wrong,  we  should  remember  with  grat- 
itude that  the  door  of  mercy  and  pardon  through  a 
Redeemer  stands  open,  and  we  ought  to  be  ready 
mutually  to  explain,  to  repent,  and  to  intercede  for 
one  another.  Should  the  matter  for  the  present  un- 
happily end  otherwise,  I  should  regret  it  exceedingly, 
but  I  thus  exonerate  myself ;  and  in  order  to  make 
the  return  on  your  part  to  the  path  of  duty  at  any 
time  afterwards  as  easy  as  possible,  I  declare  it  is 
my  determination,  through  grace,  that  no  sinful  dis- 
tance or  interruption  to  the  maintenance  of  peace  and 
love  shall  in  future  rest  with  me." 


JAMES,  IN  EDINBURGH.  119 

And  wliatever  changes  took  place  as  to  the  ordi- 
nances and  discipline  of  the  Christian  church,  in  the 
mind  of  James  Haldane,  his  ardent  love  to  Christ  or 
the  souls  of  men  suffered  no  diminution.  On  one 
occasion,  not  less  than  four  thousand  persons  assem- 
bled together  on  a  Lord's  day  to  hear  his  reasons  for 
the  change  he  had  avowed,  which  related  chiejfly  to 
baptism,  and  weekly  communion  at  the  Lord's  table. 
Among  his  audience  were  men  of  high  station,  of  lit- 
erature, and  of  science,  mingled  with  collegiate  pro- 
fessors and  magistrates.  Looking  round  on  the  vast 
assemblage  with  a  solemn  and  scrutinizing  glance,  he 
pointedly  asked,  and  paused  as  if  waiting  for  an  an- 
swer, as  to  what  were  the  motives  which  had  drawn 
them  together.  "Was  it  to  hear  a  man  who  has 
changed  his  opinion?  Ah,  my  friends,  there  is  some- 
thing of  infinitely  deeper  importance,  which  concerns 
the  present  and  eternal  welfare  of  tlje  immortal  soul 
of  every  one  now  present."  Starting  from  this  point, 
he  pressed  home  upon  them  a  sense  of  their  lost  and 
ruined  state,  and  called  on  them  to  "  behold  the  Lamb 
of  God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world."  He 
then  noticed  the  differences  which  existed  between 
Christians,  and  the  stumbling-blocks  which  these  dif- 
ferences often  proved  to  men  of  the  world.  The 
effect  was  striking  and  solemn.  All  his  friends 
well  knew  that  his  change  of  religious  views  would 
vastly  lessen  his  congregation,  but  no  one  doubted 
his  sincerity.  To  the  love  of  popularity  he  was 
insensible,  and  regarded  any  sacrifice  made  for  this 
end  to  be  ppposed  to  the  profession  of  the  gospel, 


180  THE  HALDANES. 

and  degrading  to   the  character   of  a  minister  of 
Christ. 

Towards  the  close  of  1809,  Kobert  Haldane,  feel- 
ing the  necessity  of  retirement  and  recreation,  both 
for  himself  and  Mrs.  Haldane,  bought  the  estate  of 
Auchingray,  in  Lanarkshire,  which  was  obtained  for 
an  inconsiderable  price  compared  with  his  former  res- 
idence at  Airthrey.  At  Auchingray  he  erected  a 
comfortable  and  spacious  residence,  and  by  bringing 
a  vast  bleak  moor,  containing  some  thousands  of 
acres,  under  cultivation,  he  rendered  a  very  great 
service  to  the  whole  neighborhood.  He  left  it  a 
waving  forest,  studded  with  slated  cottages  and  new 
farm-homesteads,  an  ornament  to  the  surrounding 
country,  the  improvement  of  which,  by  drainage  and 
the  application  of  lime,  had  been  stimulated  by  his 
example. 

The  candid  reader  will  expect  to  find  that  these 
new  engagements  of  Robert  Haldane  did  not  at  all 
lessen  his  Christian  zeal,  and  will  not  be  surprised  to 
learn  that  in  December,  1810,  he  thus  wrote  to  his 
friend  John  Campbell :  "I  now  trouble  you  with  this,^ 
to  ask  you  if  there  be  any  translation  of  the  Scripr 
tures  which  you  think  would  be  useful,  and  is  not 
likely  to  be  carried  into  effect  by  the  societies  in 
London ;  or  if  you  have  any  opportunity  of  an  en- 
larged distribution  of  the  Scriptures  which  you  are 
not  able  at  present  to  embrace  ?  I  should  be  glad  to 
consider  any  thing  of  this  kind  that  you  should  rec- 
ommend. In  giving,  perhaps,  considerable  assistance 
to  such  objects,  I  would  wish  tQ  do  it  in  such  way  as 


i 


ROBERT,  ON  THE  EVIDENCES.  181, 

would  be  an  addition  to  what  is  at  present  going  on. 
Do  you  know  if  any  thing  of  this  sort  could  be  done 
on  the  Continent?  Can  any  thing  more  be  done  for 
Spain  and  Portugal?  I  suppose  nothing  could  be 
attempted  as  to  France,  or  would  it  be  possible  to 
send  more  copies  of  the  Bible  to  that  country  ?  When 
convenient,  I  shall  be  happy  to  hear  from  you  on  the 
subject ;  and  as  I  am  writing  to  other  places,  I  should 
be  glad  that  it  were  soon." 

After  the  house  at  Auchingray  was  finished,  Rob- 
ert Haldane  was  zealous  in  the  advancement  of  pub- 
lic worship  in  its  neighborhood.  On  the  forenoon  of 
each  Lord's  day  he  generally  himself  •  delivered  an 
exposition  of  some  portion  of  Scripture,  which  was 
always  carefully  studied,  and  full  of  useful  practical 
instruction  and  profound  theology.  At  a  little  dis- 
tance from  his  house  he  had  a  chapel  fitted  up,  where 
James  Haldane  used  to  preach  two  or  three  times  a 
week  when  he  visited  his  brother,  and  where  he  him- 
self, after  his  return  from  the  Continent,  usually  con- 
ducted public  worship  every  Lord's  day.  On  the 
week-days,  after  family  worship  and  breakfast  at  nine 
o'clock,  he  generally  remained  in  his  own  room,  with 
his  door  bolted,  declining  to  be  disturbed  till  one  or 
two  o'clock,  studying  the  Scriptures  and  other  books, 
or  writing.  In  the  evenings  he  generally  was  occu- 
pied with  lighter  reading,  including  the  newspapers, 
the  periodical  publications,  and  new  books  of  useful 
information.  He  was  also  at  this  time  preparing  his 
work  on  the  Evidences  and  Authority  of  Divine  Rev- 
elation, the  first  edition  of  which,  published  in  1816>^ 


182  THE  HALDANES. 

contained  tlie  fruit  of  his  early  and  laborious  inqui- 
ries. 

We  have  already  seen  the  usefulness  of  Robert 
Haldane's  study  in  early  life  of  the  evidences  of 
Christianity,  and  we  glance  at  the  reasons  which 
now  influenced  him  to  write  on  this  momentous  topic. 
He  was  dissatisfied  with  most  of  the  works  which  had 
then  been  published  on  the  subject.  It  was  too  man-" 
ifest  that  the  most  eloquent  and  argumentative  writ- 
ers on  the  historical  truth  of  revelation  had  not 
always  been  the  most  evangelical  of  its  apologists. 
Neither  Warburton,  Paley,  Lardner,  nor  Watson 
seem  to  have  received  the  gospel  in  its  full  power 
and  simplicity  into  their  own  hearts.  The  works  of 
these  writers,  though  admirable  in  composition,  unan- 
swerable in  argument,  and  valuable  as  mines  of  infor- 
mation, do  not  indicate,  as  could  be  desired,  the  power 
of  a  vital  acquaintance  with  those  truths  whose  out- 
ward strength  and  glory  they  profess  to  establish. 
It  appeared,  moreover,  to  Robert  Haldane,  that  these 
and  such  like  books  of  evidences  were  generally  ad- 
dressed to  infidels,  and  assumed  the  possibility  that 
Christianity  might  after  all  prove  a  fable.  On  the 
contrary,  he  believed  that  the  proofs  of  Christianity 
could  only  be  properly  set  forth  by  those  whose  under- 
standings have  been  enlightened  to  know  the  exceed- 
ing riches  of  the  grace  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ ;  and 
further,  that  the  evidences  of  the  truth  of  revelation 
ought  to  be  especially  studied  by  Christians,  not  be- 
cause they  doubt,  but  because  they  desire  to  know 
more  of  the  certainty  of  what  they  assuredly  believe. 


ROBERT,  ON  THE  EVIDENCES.  183 

We  have  already  spoken  of  the  skill  manifested 
by  Robert  Haldane  in  his  exposition  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  the  reader  will  not  be  displeased  by  an  illustra- 
tion of  this  talent  in  reference  to  a  passage  at  which 
infidels  have  often  sneered  as  wanting  dignity,  and 
which  has  only  proved  that  such  men  cannot  under- 
stand the  calmness  of  the  Christian  in  the  most  trying 
circumstances.  We  refer  to  the  request  of  Paul  to 
Timothy  to  bring  to  him  the  cloak  he  had  left  at 
Troas,  2  Tim.  4 :  10.  Mr.  Haldane  says,  "  On  the 
approach  of  winter,  in  a  cold  prison,  and  at  the  ter- 
mination of  his  course,  the  apostle  Paul  appears  here 
to  be  a  follower  indeed  of  Him  who  had  not  where 
to  lay  his  head.  He  is  represented  to  our  view  as 
actually  enduring  those  hardships  which  elsewhere 
he  describes  in  a  manner  so  affecting :  '  In  prison,  in 
cold,  in  nakedness.'  He  had  abandoned,  as  he  else- 
where informs  us,  all  the  fair  prospects  that  once 
opened  to  him  of  worldly  advantages,  for  the  excel- 
lency of  the  knowledge  of  Christ,  and  had  suffered 
the  loss  of  all  things.  And  in  this  epistle  we  see  all 
that  he  has  said  on  the  subject  embodied  and  verified. 
He  is  about  to  suffer  death  for  the  testimony  of  Jesus ; 
and  now  he  requests  one  of  the  few  friends  that  still 
adhered  to  him,  all  the  others,  as  he  tells  us,  having 
forsaken  him,  to  do  his  diligence  to  come  before  win- 
ter, and  to  bring  to  him  his  cloak.  Here,  in  his 
solemn  farewell  address,  of  which  the  verse  before  us 
forms  a  part,  the  last  of  his  writings,  and  which  con- 
tains a  passage  of  unrivalled  grandeur,  the  apostle  of 
the  Gentiles  is  exhibited  in  a  situation  greatly  adapted 


184  THE  HALDANES. 

to  affect  Tis.  We  behold  him  standing  on  the  confines 
of  the  two  worlds :  in  this  world,  about  to  be  behead- 
ed as  guilty,  by  the  emperor  of  Rome ;  in  the  other 
world,  to  be  crowned  as  righteous  by  the  King  of 
kings:  here  deserted  by  men,  there  to  be  welcomed 
by  angels;  here  in  want  of  a  cloak  to  cover  him, 
there  to  be  clothed  upon  with  his  house  from  heaven." 
Before  he  left  Scotland  for  the  continent  of  Eu- 
rope, Robert  Haldane  received  many  testimonies  as 
to  the  esteem  in  which  his  work  on  the  "  Evidences 
of  Christianity  "  was  held  by  those  whose  judgment 
he  most  highly  valued.  Two  of  these  he  deemed  of 
special  interest.  One  of  them  was  from  the  pen  of 
Joseph  Hardcastle,  Esq.,  a  Russia  merchant,  the  treas- 
urer of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  and  with  whom 
he  had  formerly  held  much  counsel  as  to  his  mission 
to  India,  the  education  of  African  children,  and  the 
establishment  of  village  preaching  around  London. 
In  a  suite  of  rooms  connected  with  Mr.  Hardcastle's 
counting-house,  near  the  old  London  bridge,  several 
of  the  valuable  religious  societies  of  the  close  of  the 
last  century  and  the  beginning  of  the  present  had 
their  origin,  including  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society;  and  here  was  conducted  for  several  years 
the  business  of  the  Religious  Tract  Society,  the  Hi- 
bernian Society  for  sustaining  religious  schools  in 
Ireland,  and  the  Yillage  Itinerant  Society.  After 
cordially  thanking  his  friend  for  a  copy  of  the  "Evi- 
dences," and  expressing  his  high  opinion  of  its  char- 
acter, Mr.  Hardcastle  says,  "I  consider  myself  as 
standing  on  the  verge  of  the  eternal  world,  and  the 


JOSEPH  HARDCASTLE,  ESQ.  '      186 

decays  of  nature  frequently  admonish  me  that  the 
time  of  my  departure  cannot  be  very  remote.  But  I 
am  cheered  sometimes  with  the  contrast  which  the 
present  state  of  things  exhibits,  compared  with  that 
which  existed  when  I  first  became  acquainted  with 
society;  and  I  am  thankful  to  God  for  the  privilege 
I  have  enjoyed  of  associating  with  so  many  excellent 
friends,  who  have  been  made  instrumental  in  produc- 
ing results  so  beneficial  and  so  extensive." 

As  we  may  not  have  occasion  again  to  introduce 
the  name  of  this  excellent  man  in  connection  with  ' 
Mr.  Haldane,  we  will  say  here  that  he  continued  to 
adorn  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  as  far  as  possi- 
ble to  extend  its  triumphs,  till  his  removal  from  earth 
in  March,  1819,  in  his  sixty-seventh  year.  Two  short  . 
testimonies  from  men  who  well  knew  him,  shall  pre- 
sent an  epitome  of  his  lovely  Christian  character. 
The  Eev.  Dr.  Collyer,  his  pastor,  said,  in  his  funeral 
sermon,  "  I  have  often  stolen  a  look  from  this  pulpit 
to  the  spot  where,  at  the  door  of  the  vestry,  he  was 
seated,  upon  a  countenance  which  might  well  be  con- 
ceived to  belong  to  the  apostle  John — so  mild,  so 
tranquil,  so  patriarchal,  so  full  of  feeling  and  affec- 
tion ;  and  although  time  and  sickness  had  produced 
an  alteration,  it  seemed  rather  like  a  visage  from 
which  all  traces  of  past  sorrow  had  been  wholly 
effaced,  than  that  of  a  present  sufferer." 

Dr.  Morison,  who  wrote  his  biography,  says,  very 
truly,  "  It  was  not  merely  by  his  wisdom  in  counsel, 
or  his  talent  as  a  writer,  that  Mr.  Hardcastle  justified 
the  distinction  conferred  on  him  by  the  Missionary 


186  THE  HALDANES. 

Society.  His  mild  and  conciliating  disposition,  com- 
bined as  it  was  with  dignity  and  firmness,  prevented 
the  ill  consequences  of  those  differences  of  opinion 
which  must  sometimes  inevitably  arise  in  the  deliber- 
ations of  a  numerous  body,  even  when  actuated  by 
the  most  conscientious  feeling,  and  the  most  upright 
indentions.  His  very  look  was  calculated  to  disarm 
hostility,  and  beaming  with  the  affection  he  so  strong- 
ly cherished  towards  his  brethren,  reflected  and  com- 
municated the  tranquillity  which  reigned  in  his  own 
breast.  If  difficulties  did  arise,  he  immediately  set 
himself  to  accommodate  matters  between  the  parties, 
so  as  to  eradicate  '  any  root  of  bitterness'  which  might 
spring  up  to  mar  the  great  object  they  all  labored  to 
advance.  So  far  as  he  himself  was  concerned,  the 
testimony  delivered  in  his  funeral  sermon  by  Dr. 
Bogue,  is  corroborated  by  all  who  knew  him.  '  On 
one  occasion,'  says  the  doctor,  '  being  charged  rather 
uncourteously,  as  well  as  unjustly,  with  finesse,  he 
replied,  '  On  entering  the  Missionary  Society,  I  made 
this  resolution  in  the  strength  of  the  Lord,  never  to 
he  offended,  and  I  have,  by  the  grace  of  God,  endeav- 
ored to  maintain  it ;  I  shall  therefore  take  no  notice 
of  the  remarks  just  made,  but  proceed  to  the  business 
before  us.'  Such  was  his  care  over  his  own  spirit; 
and  in  regard  to  others,  he  was  the  umpire  to  whose 
unbiassed  judgment  the  wisest  and  the  best  agreed  to 
yield  the  point  in  dispute.  If  at  any  time,  on  subjects 
of  moment  and  difficulty,  debate  ran  high  between 
good  men,  each  accustomed  to  take  the  lead  in  his 
own  sphere,  it  was  his  blessed  work  as. peacemaker 


ROBERT,  ON  THE  EVIDENCES.  187 

to  prevent  or  heal  dissensions  like  that  which  divided 
the  labors  of  Barnabas  and  Paul/  '' 

The  other  letter  in  reference  to  the  "Evidences" 
on  which  Robert  Haldane  set  a  very  high  value,  was 
from  his  venerable  friend  Rowland  Hill,  whose  ar- 
dent attachment  to  the  brothers  was  unshaken  by  the 
changes  which  had  taken  place.  He  says,  among 
other  excellent  things,  "You  have  done,  dear  sir,  not 
only,  I  trust,  the  most  essential  service  to  the  general 
cause  of  Christianity  in  what  you  have  written,  but 
also  to  the  spirit  and  temper  of  the  gospel,  by  wisely 
dropping  all  those  inferior  differences  that  are  of  no 
essential  importance  when  compared  to  the  cause 
itself.  Yes,  dear  sir,  and  the  older  we  get,  and  the 
riper  we  grow  in  the  divine  life,  the  less  we  shall 
regard  the  matters  that  are  disputatious  and  non- 
essential, because  not  so  much  the  positive  subjects  of 
divine  revelation,  and  consequently  the  cause  of  minor 
differences  among  those  who  are  the  happy  recipients 
of  the  same  grace,  and  partakers  of  a  divine  union 
with  the  same  spiritual  Head.  And  in  this  I  desire 
to  express  my  thankfulness  before  God  for  the  con- 
cluding pages  of  your  volumes.  While  some  have 
vindicated  Christianity  as  a  mere  nominal  religion, 
you  have  not  only  pleaded  for  the  temple  of  truth, 
but  shown  that  God  himself  is  to  be  the  inhabitant 
of  his  own  temple,  and  that  men  are  to  be  unspeaka- 
bly blessed  in  him." 

We  turn  now  to  mark  the  progress  of  James  Hal- 
dane in  his  career  of  active  usefulness. 

The  village  of  Portobello,  to  which  in  the.  summer 


188  THE  HALDANES. 

months  he  frequently  resorted  with  his  family,  was 
the  scene  of  many  of  his  occasional  labors  for  a 
period  of  not  less  than  half  a  century.  It  may  be  the 
more  desirable  to  glance  at  his  preaching  there,  as  in 
the  outset  not  a  few  charged  him  with  being  opposed 
to  the  government  of  the  country,  and  insinuated  that 
he  neither  prayed  for  the  king  nor  the  minister  of  the 
parish.  The  oldest  proprietor  of  the  parish,  on  whose 
land  most  of  the  village  was  then  built,  who  had  many 
of  the  common  people  in  his  employment,  and  enjoyed 
their  implicit  confidence,  heard  these  rumors ;  and 
being  a  warm  friend  of  "  the  powers  that  be/'  deter- 
mined to  test  their  truth.  Mr.  Haldane  had  an- 
nounced that  he  would  preach  on  a  certain  day  at  a 
particular  place  near  the  public  highway,  and  the 
gentleman  to  whom  we  have  referred  was  present  in 
the  large  company  assembled.  He  went  to  remon- 
strate with  the  people  under  his  own  care,  or  even,  if 
necessary,  to  exert  his  authority  as  a  justice  of  the 
peace,  in  dispersing  them.  He  had,  however,  listened 
to  Mr.  Haldane's  fervent  discourse  but  a  few  minutes, 
which  was  admirably  suited  to  his  audience,  when  he 
saw  that  he  had  been  entirely  misinformed,  and  with 
the  frankness  always  manifested  in  such  cases  by  hon- 
est minds,  he  at  once  confessed  his  error.  A  heavy 
shower  of  rain  came  on  while  the  sermon  was  being 
delivered,  which  afforded  the  magistrate  an  oppor- 
tunity of  inviting  the  preacher  to  adjourn  to  a  large 
barn  which  he  had  lately  fitted  up  with  coarse  seats 
for  another  purpose,  and  there  to  finish  the  service. 
The  offer  was  cheerfully  accepted,  and  there  com- 


JAMES,  AT  NORTH  BERWICK.      189 

menced  an  acquaintance  with  the  magistrate's  family 
the  blessed  results  of  which  will  be  eternal. 

In  connection  with  James  Haldane's  preaching  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Edinburgh,  there  is  another  inci- 
dent to  which  we  must  refer.  He  had  one  summer's 
evening  commenced  a  sermon  near  the  beautiful  bay 
of  North  Berwick.  At  that  period  the  convivial 
habits  of  East  Lothian  were  notorious,  even  in  an 
age  when  Scottish  hospitality  was  stained  with  riot- 
ous excess.  The  officers  of  the  East  Lothian  yeo- 
maniy,  and  several  magistrates,  including  one  who 
had  long  sat  in  Parliament,  were  dining  with  the  pro- 
vost, or  chief  magistrate  of  North  Berwick.  They 
were  already  deeply  intoxicated  wjien  they  were  in- 
formed that  James  Haldane  was  preaching  in  the 
immediate  vicinity.  The  gospel  had  no  charms  for 
them,  nor  were  they  willing  that  others  should  hear 
it.  Heated  with  wine,  they  began  to  consult  in  what 
way  they  should  expel  the  missionary  from  their  ter- 
ritory. One  of  them  suggested  that  it  would  be  a 
capital  plan  to  seize  on  the  preacher,  as  had  been 
done  in  the  case  of  some  political  lecturers  in  Eng- 
land during  the  suspension  of  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act, 
and  send  him  at  once  on  board  of  a  man-of-war ;  but 
others  thought  this  would  be  dangerous,  as  both  the 
admiral  of  the  north  seas  and  the  commander  of  the 
king's  land  forces  were  related  to  Mr.  Haldane.  But 
as  they  drank  on,  they  became  more  than  ever  resolute 
to  put  down  the  preacher  and  his  preaching  in  that 
district.  They  sallied  forth,  threatening  that  if  the 
preacher  did  not  desist,  if  they  did  not  find  a  law  to 


190i  THE  HALDANES. 

stop  him,  they  would  make  one.  In  this  infuriated 
mood  they  rushed  with  oaths  and  horrid  imprecations 
to  the  scene.  James  Haldane  received  them  with 
calm  self-possession,  and  in  reply  to  their  demands 
intimated  that  he  was  infringing  no  law  and  obstruct- 
ing no  thoroughfare.  He  further  said,  that  if  as 
magistrates  they  required  him  to  desist  from  preach- 
ing on  that  particular  spot,  he  would  certainly  obey; 
but  added,  that  when  he  heard  men  in  authority  set- 
ting such  an  example  of  profane  swearing  —  "  What," 
exclaimed  the  magistrates,  eagerly  interrupting  the 
half-finished  sentence,  "  what  do  you  say  of  us  ?"  "  I 
would  not,''  he  replied  with  firmness,  "say  what  I 
think  of  you."  Conscience,  it  has  been  said,  makes 
cowards  of  us  all ;  and  the  same  determined  compo- 
sure of  spirit,  which  a  few  years  before  had  overawed 
the  intoxicated  mutineers  at  the  door  of  the  powder- 
magazine  of  the  Duttar,  seemed  now  to  paralyze  the 
ungodly  throng  who  had  rushed  from  their  revel  to 
insult  and  arrest  the  preacher.  ^    • 

While  the  gentry,  so  called,  were  thus  acting,  great 
was  the  indignation  of  the  people  who  had  crowded 
to  the  service,  and  it  is  difficult  to  say  what  might 
have  been  the  result,  had  not  a  respectable  farmer 
come  forward  and  requested  Mr.  Haldane  to  adjourn 
the  meeting  to  his  field,  which  was  private  property, 
where  the  jurisdiction  of  the  provost  did  not  reach. 
He  did  so,  and  drawing  a  moral  from  the  enmity  to 
the  gospel  they  had  just  witnessed',  preached  a  most 
impressive  sermon,  whicli  sent  away  the  people  deeply 
and  solemnly  impressed,  and  the  whole  of  the  pro- 


JAMES,  AT  PORTO  BELLO.  191 

ceedings  were  long  remembered.  It  may  be  added, 
that  even  after  an  adjournment  to  the  field  had  taken 
place,  a  further  interruption  was  attempted.  Nettled 
at  the  defeat  the  provost  and  magistrates  had  sus- 
tained, they  prevailed  on  one  of  the  county  gentle- 
men, who  commanded  the  yeomanry,  to  lend  his  drum, 
for  the  purpose  of  drowning  the  preacher's  voice.  This 
undignified  act  did  not,  however,  succeed,  as  the  drum- 
mer was  not  allowed  to  enter  the  field,  which  greatly 
added  to  their  vexation.  :.  , 

There  was  a  sequel  to  this  story.  Twenty  years 
afterwards,  James  Haldane  was  walking,  on  a  sum- 
mer's evening,  with  some  of  his  children  near  Porto 
Bello,  when  he  was  met  by  a  tall  portly  gentleman, 
who  on  approaching  him  left  the  footpath,  and  uncov- 
ering his  head,  made  a  profound  bow  and  passed  on. 
James  Haldane  returned  the  unlooked-for  courtesy  of 
the  stranger,  and  on  the  next  day  discovered  that  it 
was  the  officer  who  lent  the  drum  at  North  Berwick. 
Since  that  evening  he  had  never  met  the  preacher, 
but  he  had  deeply  repented  the  part  he  had  been  per- 
suaded to  take  in  that  affair,  the  recollection  of  which 
had  lain  heavy  on  his  conscience.  It  is  still  more 
pleasing  to  know  that  this  officer  became  a  trophy  of 
divine  grace,  and  that  James  Haldane  spoke  to  him 
the  words  of  peace,  and  prayed  with  him  as  he  lay 
on  the  bed  of  death.  Four  of  his  sons  engaged  in 
the  defence  of  their  country,  and  two  of  them  at  least 
were  "good  soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ,"  and  warm 
friends  of  him  whom  their  father  once  persecuted. 

In  1814,  James  Haldane  repaired  first  to  Buxton, 


192  THE  HALDANES. 

and  then  to  Harrowgate,  to  seek  health  for  his  be- 
loved wife,  taking  with  them  their  eldest  daughter 
and  their  second  son.  In  this  neighborhood  he  had 
many  opportunities  of  preaching,  and  here  he  enjoyed 
once  more  a  most  agreeable  interview  with  his  old 
friend  Rowland  Hill,  then  a  septuagenarian,  and  en- 
gaged on  what  he  intended  to  be  his  last  tour  on 
behalf  of  the  London  Missionary  Society.  During 
this  tour,  James  Haldane  went,  by  the  request  of  some 
friends,  to  preach  in  the  open  air  in  a  large  manu- 
facturing village  where  the  gospel  of  Christ  was  not 
preached.  On  arriving  at  the  village-green,  where 
the  sermon  had  been  announced,  a  constable  informed 
him  that  he  could  allow  of  no  preaching.  "With  great 
presence  of  mind,  the  preacher  took  his  Bible  from 
his  pocket,  uncovered  his  head,  and  observed  that  at 
all  events  there  could  be  no  objection  to  his  reading 
a  portion  of  the  word  of  God.  The  constable  seemed 
perplexed,  and  was  struck,  it  was  said,  with  the  bear- 
ing and  appearance  of  the  stranger,  who  thus  quietly 
assumed  his  undoubted  right  to  read  the  Scriptures 
to  the  people.  The  result  was,  that  from  reading  he 
began  to  expound,  and  soon,  without  interruption,  to 
appeal  directly  and  forcibly  to  the  consciences  of  his 
hearers,  and  concluded  the  service  with  prayer. 

At  Buxton,  James  Haldane  constantly  officiated  in 
the  ministry  every  Lord's  day,  and  occasionally  on 
week-days,  attracting  a  large  number  of  the  visitors 
as  well  as  the  residents  of  the  town.  The  war  with 
France  had  then  scarcely  ceased,  and  such  watering- 
places  as  Buxton  were  much  frequented  by  the  Eng- 


JAMES,  AT  BUXTON.  193 

lish  aristocracy.  At  that  period  of  his  life  James 
Ilaldane  had  a  happy  talent  of  introducing  interest- 
ing conversation,  and  frequently  turning  it  to  good 
account.  As  he  remained  at  Buxton  long  cnougli  to 
rise,  according  to  the  usual  rotation,  to  the  head  of 
the  public  table,  his  influence  was  more  and  more  felt ; 
and  although  there  had  been  at  first  a  dread  of  what 
was  called  his  Methodism,  he  afterwards  became  a 
general  favorite  with  the  most  intelligent  portion  of 
the  company,  which  comprised  judges,  members  of 
parliament,  clergymen,  general  officers,  and  country 
squires.  Among  the  rest  there  was  a  Welsh  rector 
from  Anglesea,  who  knowing  nothing  of  Mr.  Hal- 
dane,  observed,  in  connection  with  some  profane  lan- 
guage, that  "  the  Calvinists  make  their  people  believe 
that  every  thing,  whether  good  or  evil,  is  of  God." 
Smiling  at  the  prejudices  of  the  good-tempered  rec- 
tor, James  Haldane  quietly  replied,  "Ah,  sir,  that  is 
a  grave  subject.  Do  you  not  remember  the  vision 
that  the  prophet  told  to  king  Ahab,  how  he  saw  the 
hosts  of  heaven  standing  before  the  throne  of  God, 
on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left ;  and  how  the  lying 
spirit  received  his  commission  to  go  forth  and  per- 
suade Ahab  to  go  up  to  Ramoth  Gilead  ;  and  how 
Ahab  went,  and  fell,  though  warned  of  his  folly  and 
his  danger  ?"  Long  before  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Hal- 
dane's  inquiry,  the  portly  but  not  studious  divine, 
coloring  red  as  crimson,  confessed  himself  at  fault, 
and  gladly  turned  the  conversation.  This  visit  was 
eminently  useful  to  very  many,  as  was  ascertained 
from  their  conversations  and  letters. 

Haldaoes.  9 


lU  THE  HALDANES. 

In  1816,  James  Haldane  spent  some  weeks  at  Gils- 
land,  in  the  county  of  Cumberland,  in  the  hope  of 
recruiting  his  wife's  health,  which  had  still  continued 
to  droop.  On  that  occasion  he  met  a  late  well-known 
Catholic  archbishop  of  Ireland,  Dr.  Everard  of  Cash- 
el.  This  gentleman  was  one  of  the  old  school  of 
Irish  priests  educated  in  France ;  he  had  a  cultivated 
mind,  and  had  seen  much  of  the  world,  having  lived 
in  the  families  of  some  of  the  highest  English  aristoc- 
racy. He  first  appeared  at  the  hotel  simply  as  Mr. 
Everard,  and  was  only  known  to  belong  to  a  superior 
class  of  society  by  the  awe  with  which  he  was  re- 
garded by  a  priest  also  staying  in  the  house,  and  by 
his  evidently  restrained. conversation  and  manners. 

On  the  first  day  they  met  at  the  table,  the  arch- 
bishop singled  out  James  Haldane  from  the  crowd 
of"  visitors,  and  in  the  evening  engaged  him  in  very 
interesting  conversation.  The  next  day  his  atten- 
tions became  more  marked,  and  at  the  dinner-table 
it  appeared  that  his  servant  had  received  orders  to 
wait  on  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Haldane  as  much  as  on  himself. 
The  intimacy  increased,  and  every  day  several  hours 
were  spent  in  the  walks  or  drives  around  Gilsland, 
discussing  the  claims  of  the  Eomish  church  and  the 
doctrines  of  the  gospel.  Mighty  in  the  Scriptures, 
and  armed  in  the  Christian  panoply,  James  Haldane 
repelled  every  argument  drawn  from  the  traditions 
of  the  church  or  the  authority  of  man ;  and  on  the 
other  hand,  assured  his  new  acquaintance  that,  if  Ro- 
manists refused  an  appeal  "  to  the  law  and  the  testimo- 
ny," it  must  be  because  there  was  "  no  light  in  them." 


JAMES,  AND  THE  ARCHBISHOP.  195 

These  friendly  discussions  were  carried  on  with 
intense  earnestness,  and  in  a  spirit  which  inspired 
mutual  respect.  Dr.  Everard  confidentially  disclosed 
his  rank  and  position  in  the  Romish  church,  but  sol- 
emnly appealed  to  heaven  that  he  sought  only  the 
truth,  and  was  indifferent  to  all  secular  considera- 
tions, and  the  conversations  daily  became  more  inter- 
esting. On  the  Lord's  day  James  Haldane  preached 
in  the  assembly-room.  Before  the  service,  Dr.  Eve- 
rard begged  the  daughter  of  his  Protestant  friend  to 
persuade  her  father  to  preach  in  the  drawing-room, 
and  to  tell  him  how  much  he  himself  desired  to  listen 
4o  him.  After  the  service  was  over,  the  archbishop 
asked  why  his  request  had  not  been  complied  with, 
and  why  Mr.  Haldane  had  not  preached  in  the  draw- 
ing-room, "where,"  he  said,  "I  could  have  remained 
and  listened  without  any  breach  of  discipline  or  ca- 
nonical law,  though  of  course  it  was  impossible  to 
follow  you  to  any  other  place."  The  preacher  ex- 
plained, that  many  servants  and  cottagers  would  have 
been  excluded  from  hearing,  had  he  conducted  the 
service  in  the  drawing-room,  but  offered  to  go  over 
all  the  leading  topics  of  his  discourse.  This  he  did, 
and  discussed  them  with  his  usual  candor. 

A  few  days  before  he  left  Gilsland,  the  archbishop 
confined  himself  to  his  room,  and  did  not  appear  in 
public.  He  afterwards  sought  a  parting  interview 
with  his  Protestant  friend,  which  was  very  solemn 
and  affecting.  The  archbishop  told  him  that  the  con- 
versations he  had  enjoyed  with  him,  and  particularly 
his  appeals  to  the  Bible^  had  shaken  him  more  than 


\t--' 


196  THE  HALDANES. 

any  thing  he  had  ever  before  heard,  and  that  it  had 
made  him  very  uneasy  ;  tliat  he  had  therefore  deter- 
mined, with  fasting  and  prayer,  once  more  to  seek 
counsel  of  God,  that  his  error,  if  he  were  in  error, 
might  be  shown  to  him.  He  added  that  his  medita- 
tions, during  his  hours  of  fasting  and  retirement,  had 
led  him  to  this  train  of  thought :  Here  is  a  man  who 
is  certainly  mighty  in  the  Scriptures,  but  who  inter- 
prets the  Bible  for  himself,  and  depends  on  his  own 
private  judgment.  The  case  is  different  with  myself. 
If  I  err,  I  err  with  a  long  line  of  holy  men  who  have 
lived  and  died  in  the  bosom  of  the  Catholic  church. 
James  Haldane  endeavored  to  show  the  danger  of 
trusting  to  the  examples  or  opinions  of  fallible  men, 
though  some  of  those  named,  such  as  Pascal  and  Fen- 
elon,  had  been  themselves  persecuted  for  Protestant 
tendencies  ;  and  he  contrasted  the  opinions  based  on- 
the  shifting  sands  of  human  opinion  with  the  certainty 
of  the  written  word  of  God,  read  by  the  light  of  God's 
Holy  Spirit  shining  on  its  pages.  He  also  said  some- 
thing about "  the  traditions  of  the  apostles."  "  What," 
asked  Dr.  Everard,  "  do  you  speak  of  traditions  ?  I 
had  thought  you  discarded  them  entirely."  The  reply 
was,  "  The  traditions  of  fallible  men  I  reject,  but  the 
traditions  of  the  apostles,  as  recorded  by  the  finger 
of  inspiration,  are  to  be  received  as  every  other  part 
of  the  inspired  word  of  God."  James  Haldane  added, 
"  Pardon  me,  but  I  must  tell  you,  in  faithfulness  and 
love,  it  is  my  firm  conviction  that  the  church  which 
you  so  much  esteem  is  no  other  than  the  woman  which 
the  apostle  John  beheld  in  the  Apocalypse, '  drunken 


JAMES,  AND  THE  ARCHBISHOP.  19T 

with  the  blood  of  the  saints  and  martyrs  of  Jesus.' " 
Again  he  said,  "  Do  not  think  me  rude."  The  arch- 
bishop affectionately  pressed  his  hand,  and  said,  "No, 
my  dear  sir  ;  I  know  you  too  well  to  think  so.  I  am 
persuaded  you  only  speak  for  my  good." 

In  the  conclusion  of  the  interview,  James  Haldane 
once  more  urged  on  the  archbishop  the  necessity  of 
the  further  investigation  of  the  Bible  with  prayer. 
He  promised  a  compliance  with  this  request,  connect- 
ing with  it  the  entreaty  that  his  Protestant  friend 
would  do  the  same.  James  Haldane,  however,  replied 
that  his  convictions  were  based  upon  a  rock  too  solid 
to  be  shaken,  and  that  therefore  they  would  bear  to 
be  examined  again  and  again  with  minute  attention ; 
but  he  reminded  Dr.  Everard  that  all  the  claims  of 
Popery  rested  on  human  testimony,  on  principles  that 
would  not  bear  the  light  of  God's  word,  and  around 
which  there  was  at  best  a  lurid  halo  of  doubt  and 
uncertainty.  They  parted  with  mutual  expressions 
of  regard,  and  the  archbishop  died  a  few  years  after- 
wards at  Cashel,  where  there  were  whispers  which 
intimated  that  his  dying-room  was  carefully  watched, 
to  prevent  the  intrusion  of  those  whose  presence  was 
not  desired,  and  that  the  mystery  which  was  kept  up 
as  to  his  illness,  arose  from  the  suspicion  that  he  did 
not  continue  steadfast  in  the  Komish  faith. 

In  the  early  part  of  1819,  the  chronic  disease  of 
Mrs.  James  Haldane,  under  which  she  had  long  la- 
bored, gradually  became  more  serious,  and  in  Feb- 
ruary a  course  of  mercurial  treatment  was  recom- 
mended by  three  eminent  physicians,  under  which  her 


198  THE  HALDANES. 

constitution  rapidly  gave  way.  Nothing  could  ex- 
ceed the  tenderness  with  which  her  husband  watched 
over  her  dying  couch,  and  the  earnestness  of  his 
prayers  for  her  recovery.  It  was  not,  however,  till 
within  thirty  hours  of  her  death  that  any  very  strong 
apprehensions  of  that  event  were  entertained.  The 
moment  the  danger  became  imminent,  he  collected  all 
his  children  together,  and  kneeling  dawn  in  the  midst 
of  them,  he  offered  up  a  prayer  which  can  never  be 
forgotten,  in  which  the  most  pathetic  and  earnest 
supplications  for  her  recovery,  if  consistent  with  the 
Lord's  will,  were  mingled  with  expressions  of  unre- 
served confidence  in  the  love  of  God,  and  submission 
to  the  divine  pleasure.  In  particular,  he  gave  thanks 
that  on  a  former  occasion  of  dangerous  illness,  in 
1803,  the  Lord  had  been  pleased  to  answer  prayer, 
to  rebuke  the  fever,  and  to  prolong  her  life  during 
the  sixteen  years  which  had  intervened.  He  there- 
fore prayed  as  one  who  knew  the  Lord  as  the  hearer 
of  prayer,  very  pitiful  and  full  of  compassion.  It 
was  a  night  much  to  be  remembered  in  his  family. 
It  exhibited  the  struggle  and  ^the  triumph  of  faith, 
contending  with  the  fondest  earthly  affection — the 
tenderest  and  deepest  feelings  of  the  husband  and 
father,  controlled  by  the  resignation  of  the  believer, 
saying,  "Though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  him." 
It  was  not,  however,  the  will  of  God  longer  to 
spare  the  wife  of  his  youth,  or  to  grant  the  special 
request  of  those  whose  aid  he  sought  in  intercession 
with  their  heavenly  Father.  On  Saturday  evening, 
February  27,  1819,  in  the  presence  of  her  husband 


MRS.  JAMES  HALDANE'S  DEATH.  199 

and  eight  surviving  children,  Mrs.  Haldane  fell  asleep 
in  Jesus,  The  blow  was  heavy,  but  her  husband 
knew  whence  it  came,  and  where  to  look  for  comfort. 
In  writing  shortly  afterwards  to  her  only  remaining 
uncle,  who  had  addressed  to  him  a  letter  of  condo- 
lence, he  touchingly  said,  "  As  I  closed  her  eyes,  a  tear 
trickled  down  her  cheek,  and  I  thought  it  was  the  last 
she  would  shed,  for  she  had  gone  to  Him  who  wipes 
away  all  tears  from  the  eyes  of  his  people."  On  the 
very  evening  of  her  death,  he  wrote,  in  answer  to  the 
affectionate  inquiries  of  his  oldest  friend,  who  had 
watched  over  him  as  a  boy,  "  My  dearest  aunt,  it  has 
pleased  Almighty  God  to  remove  out  of  this  vale  of 
tears  my  beloved  wife.  The  stroke  is  heavy,  but  she 
has  done  with  pain  and  sorrow,  and  is  gone  to  be 
present  with  the  Lord.  And  shall  we  murmur  be- 
cause another  tie  to  earth  is  cut  away  ?  Not,  surely, 
can  those  do  so  who  have  learned  to  wait  for  the 
appearance  of  their  Master,  and  to  account  them- 
selves strangers  and  pilgrims  in  this  world,  who  de- 
clare that  they  have  here  no  abiding  city,  but  that 
their  hearts  and  their  treasures  are  in  heaven."  It 
was  remarked,  that  at  this  time  it  seemed  as  if  he 
had  taken  another  step  within  the  veil,  and  as  if  his 
communion  with  the  Father  and  his  Son  Jesus  Christ 
had  become  closer  and  more  intense. 


200  THE  HALDANES. 


CHAPTEB  X. 

MR.  ROBERT  HALDANE'S  VISIT  TO  THE  CONTI- 
NENT  OF  EUROPE. 

1816, 1817. 

Twenty  checkered  years  of  failure  and  success 
had  not  damped  the  youthful  ardor  with  which  Rob- 
ert and  James  Haldane  had  devoted  their  lives  to  the 
progress  of  the  gospel.  As  their  zeal  was  not  the 
offspring  of  wild  enthusiasm,  its  energy  was  not  de- 
pendent on  human  contingencies.  After  a  brief  period 
of  comparative  repose,  the  termination  of  the  great 
European  revolutionary  war  opened  up  to  Robert 
Haldane  a  new  field  of  enterprise,  which  he  was  not 
slow  to  occupy.  Somewhat  to  the  surprise  of  his 
printer,  Robert  Haldane,  in  the  summer  of  1816,  hast- 
ened through  the  press  his  work  on  the  "  Evidences 
of  Christianity,"  but  the  mystery  was  solved  when  he 
announced  his  intention  of  making  a  missionary  tour 
on  the  Continent  of  Europe.  The  results  of  that  mis- 
sion stretch  into  eternity,  and  will  for  ever  connect 
the  name  of  Robert  Haldane  with  the  revival  of  the 
gospel  in  France  and  Switzerland.  Dr.  Merle  d^Au- 
bign^,  the  distinguished  historian  of  the  Reformation, 
himself  a  trophy  of  this  work  of  grace,  has  well  said 
that  a  narrative  of  this  revival  would  form  "  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  episodes  in  the  history  of  the 
church." 

The  materials  for  such  a  narrative,  however,  are 


ROBERT,  AT  GENEVA.  201 

much  scattered ;  for  it  was  characteristic  of  both  the 
brothers,  that  they  always  seemed  to  dread  the  ap- 
pearance of  egotism,  or  of  any  thing  which  savored  of 
glorying  in  man.  Nothing  was  more  cheering  to  their 
spirits  than  the  success  of  their  labors,  but  they  were 
deeply  persuaded  that,  in  regard  to  the  things  of  God, 
they  were  but  the  feeble  agents  employed  by  Him 
who  has  determined  to  destroy  all  boasting,  and  cause 
"  him  that  giorieth  to  glory  in  the  Lord.'^  If  there 
was  ever  the  shadow  of  boasting,  it  was  only  in  the 
success  with  which  the  Lord  condescended  to  honor 
the  exhibition  of  the  light  of  his  word,  unclouded  by 
man's  wisdom  and  devices. 

On  October  9, 1816,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  Haldane 
left  Edinburgh,  travelling  by  way  of  London,  Dover, 
and  Calais.  At  Paris,  Mr.  Haldane  received  from  Mr. 
Hillhouse,  a  gentleman  attached  to  the  American  em- 
bassy, a  very  melancholy  account  of  the  state  of  relig- 
ion, both  in  France  and  Switzerland,  but  he  supplied 
a  list  of  Protestant  pastors  and  laymen,  which  had 
been  originally  furnished  to  him,  for  the  purposes  of 
his  tour,  by  M.  Martin,  President  of  the  Consistory 
at  Bourdeaux.  The  solitary  pastor  mentioned  as  an 
exception  to  the  general  apostasy  at  Geneva,  was  the 
late  M.  Moulini^,  who  is  described  by  M.  Gaussen  as 
a  pious  man,  but  reserved  in  his  manners,  and  a  mys- 
tic. He  also  mentioned  M.  Galland,  a  minister  who 
was  at  that  time  an  inquirer,  and  still  far  from  enjoy- 
ing the  gospel  light. 

From  a  letter  addressed  by  Robert  Haldane  to 
the  late  Rev.  Edward  Bicker steth,  a  shining  light 

9* 


202  THE  HALDANES. 

and  a  devoted  laborer  in  the  church  of  England,  we 
transcribe  the  following  most  interesting  passages : 

"  For  many  years  I  had  cherished  the  idea  of  going 
to  France,  with  the  yiew  of  doing  something  to  pro- 
mote the  knowledge  of  the  gospel  in  a  country  in 
which  I  had  been  three  times  before  as  a  traveller. « 
Accordingly,  when  the  return  of  peace  made  my  de- 
sign practicable,  I  went  to  the  Continent.  Being, 
however,  unacquainted  with  a  single  individual  there, 
and  therefore  unable  to  arrange  any  particular  plan 
of  action,  I  feared  that  my  object  might  prove  abor- 
tive; and  in  consequence,  when  asked,  before  I  left 
Scotland,  how  long  I  expected  to  be  absent,  I  replied, 
'  Possibly  only  six  weeks.^  The  Lord,  however,  was 
pleased  to  open  a  wide  and  effectual  door,  leading  me 
in  a  way  that  I  knew  not^  and  my  residence  abroad 
continued  about  three  years. 

"  On  arriving  at  Paris,  involved  as  it  appeared  to 
be  in  Egyptian  darkness,  I  soon  perceived  that  I  had 
no  means  of  furthering  the  object  of  my  journey  in 
that  great  metropolis.  Unexpectedly,  however,  I  met 
with  Mr.  Hillhouse,  a  gentleman  of  America,  of  whom 
I  had  not  before  heard.  He  had  landed  at  Bourdeau^, 
and  travelling  through  the  south  of  France,  had  gone 
to  Geneva,  and  thence  to  Paris.  Having  passed 
through  Montauban,  where  the  French  Theological 
Faculty  was  founded  by  Napoleon,  he  had,  there  and 
in  other  places,  inquired  respecting  the  Protestant 
ministers,  and  he  communicated  to  me  all  his  informa- 
tion on  the  subject.  He  told  me  that  at  Geneva  there 
were  only  two  individuals  to  whom  I  could  have 


ROBERT,  AT  GENEVA.  203 

access,  the  one  a  pastor  in  advanced  years,  the  other 
not  a  pastor,  but  what  is  termed  a  minister,  and  that 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  other  pastors  were  Arians  or 
Socinians. 

"  Finding  no  opening  at  Paris,  I  immediately  set 
out  for  Geneva,  On  my  arrival,  I  called  on  the  pas- 
tor alluded  to,  the  late  M.  Moulini^,  and  conversed 
with  him  on  the  gospel.  He  was  very  kind,  but  ap- 
pearing to  acquiesce  in  all  I  advanced,  discussion  on 
any  point  was  out  of  the  question,  and  no  progress 
was  made.  Being  unable  to  discover  means  of  use- 
fulness at  Geneva,  and  finding  that  the  young  man 
spoken  of  by  Mr.  Hillhouse  had  some  time  before 
removed  to  Berne,  I  repaired  to  that  city,  where  I 
found  he  had  been  ordained  a  pastor.  He  was  not 
an  Arian  or  Socinian,  but  though  very  ignorant  re- 
specting the  gospel,  was  willing  to  inquire  and  hear 
concerning  the  great  truths  it  reveals.  I  remained 
in  Berne  about  eight  days,  during  which  he  came  to 
me  every  morning  at  ten  o'clock,  and  continued  till 
ten  at  night — in  fact,  as  late  as  it  was  possible  for 
him  to  stay,  the  gates  of  the  city,  beyond  which  he 
lodged,  being  shut  at  that  hour.  During  the  whole 
day  I  endeavored  to  set  before  him,  as  far  as  I  was 
enabled,  every  thing  relating  to  the  gospel,  and  have 
good  reason  to  believe  that  the  word  spoken  was 
accompanied  with  the  blessing  of  the  Lord. 

"  I  hesitated  whether  I  should  return  to  Geneva, 
but  at  last  resolved  to  do  so :  having  heard  of  two 
Protestant  clergymen.  Professor  Sack  and  his  broth- 
er, who  had  recently  been  in  England,  and  were 


204  THE  HALBANES. 

passing  through  that  town,  with  whom  it  was  sup- 
posed I  might  have  an  opportunity  of  conversing  on 
the  gospel ;  and  also  of  a  pastor  at  a  little  distance  in 
the  country,  who,  my  new  acquaintance  at  Berne  in- 
formed me,  would  listen  to  my  statements,  but  would 
'  draw  himself  up,  and  not  answer  a  word.'  To  Ge- 
neva I  accordingly  returned.  With  the  Prussian 
clergyman  I  found  no  satisfaction  in  conversing ;  and 
though  I  did  not  subsequently  experience  the  reserve 
I  anticipated  in  the  pastor  just  referred  to,  I  had  not 
the  gratification  of  meeting  him  till  after  the  lapse  of 
some  time. 

"  I,  however,  again  visited  M.  Moulini^,  who,  as 
formerly,  was  very  kind,  but  with  whom  I  could  make 
no  progress.  It  was,  as  Mr.  Burgess  observes,  'an 
unbroken  field  of  labor,  with  a  fallen  church.'  Cal- 
vin, once  its  chief  boast  and  ornament,  with  his  doc- 
trines and  works  had  been  set  aside  and  forgotten, 
while  the  pastors  and  professors  were  in  general 
Arians  or  Socinians.  Some  exceptions  among  them 
there  were,  including  M.  Moulini^,  who  held  the 
divinity  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  and  I  believe,  loved  and 
served  him  according  to  their  light;  but  that  light 
was  obscure — they  were  on  the  whole  so  ignorant 
that  their  preaching  was  without  fruit.  A  small 
prayer-meeting  had  for  some  time  been  held,  in  con- 
sequence, I  believe,  of  a  visit  of  Madame  Krudener 
to  Geneva ;  and  by  one  belonging  to  it  I  was  told, 
that,  sensible  of  their  want  of  knowledge,  they  had 
prayed  that  an  instructor  should  be  sent  to  them,  and 
that  their  prayer,  they  now  believed,  was  answered. 


ROBERT,  AT  GENEVA.  205 

"Being  unable  to  meet  with  any  other  person 
with  whom  I  might  converse  oil  the  gospel,  I  resolved 
to  quit  Geneva  without  delay,  and  proceed  to  Mont- 
auban.  The  Lord,  however,  is  often  pleased  to  over- 
rule our  purposes  by  occurrences  which  appear  tri- 
fling, and  thus  to  bring  about  results  which  could  not 
have  been  anticipated.  M.  Moulini^  had  politely 
offered  to  conduct  Mrs.  Haldane  to  see  the  model  of 
the  mountains,  a  little  way  out  of  town,  and  with  this 
object  he  promised  to  call  on  us  the  day  following. 
In  the  morning,  however,  we  received  a  note  from 
him,  saying  that,  having  suffered  from  severe  head- 
ache during  the  night,  he  was  himself  unable  to 
come,  but  had  sent  a  young  man,  a  student  of  divin- 
ity, who  would  be  our  conductor.  On  this  providen- 
tial circumstance  depended  my  continuance  at  Gene- 
va, Vhicli  I  had  been  on  the  point  of  leaving.  With 
this  student  I  immediately  entered  into  conversation 
respecting  the  gospel,  of  which  I  found  him  profound- 
ly ignorant,  though  willing  to  receive  information. 
He  remained  till  late  at  night.  Next  morning  he 
came  with  another  student  equally  in  darkness  with 
himself.  I  questioned  them  respecting  their  personal 
hope  of  salvation.  Had  they  been  trained  in  the 
schools  of  Socrates  and  Plato,  and  enjoyed  no  other 
means  of  instruction,  they  could  scarcely  have  been 
more  ignorant  of  the  truths  of  the  gospel.  After 
some  conversation,  they  became  convinced  of  their 
ignorance  of  the  Scriptures  and  of  the  way  of  salva- 
tion, and  exceedingly  desirous  of  information.  I  there- 
fore postponed  my  intended  departure  from  Geneva/' 


206  THE  HALDANES. 

A  short  passage  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Merle  d'Au- 
bign^,  relating  to  this  matter,  will  add  to  the  interest 
of  the  above.  He  says,  "The  apostolic  mission  of 
Robert  Haldane  to  the  banks  of  the  Leman  has  been 
related  to  you  in  his  admirable  Memoirs.  I  will, 
however,  add  some  facts  of  which  I  am  a  witness. 
Haldane  came  to  Geneva  with  a  letter  of  introduc- 
tion to  a  pious  clergyman,  but  the  Scottish  evange- 
list in  vain  sought  through  his  means  to  enlarge  the 
circle  of  his  acquaintance.  He  did  not  succeed.  '  I 
will  leave  Geneva  to-morrow,'  said  Haldane  to  his 
friend.  'But  you  must  first  see  the  model  of  Mont 
Blanc,  and  I  will  come  to  your  hotel  to  take  you 
there,'  replied  the  Genevese  pastor.  The  following 
day  that  clergyman  was  confined  to  his  house  by  a 
slight  indisposition ;  he  begged  one  of  the  students, 
M.  James,  to  act  as  cicerone  to  the  Scotchman.  Hal- 
dane entered  into  conversation  with  the  young  man, 
and  finding  that  several  of  the  students  would  gladly 
hear  him  expound  the  Scriptures,  he  delayed  his  de- 
parture, remained  at  Geneva,  and  took  a  lodging  in 
the  place  St.  Antoine.  The  same  evening  he  opened 
his  drawing-room  to  all  those  who  wished  to  hear  his 
explanation  of  the  epistle  to  the  Romans.  The  trench 
is  dug ;  Sebastopol  will  be  taken.  Ah,  I  remember 
well  that  time,  forty  years  ago,  when  Haldane,  point- 
ing with  his  finger  to  the  passage  in  my  French  Bible, 
showed  me  the  fifth  chapter  of  Romans.  'Yes,'  I 
said,  '  I  see  clearly  that  original  sin  is  proclaimed  in 
the  Scriptures.'  Then,  raising  his  hand  and  pointing 
to  me,  he  said,  *  But  do  you  see  it  in  your  own  heart  ?' 


ROBERT,  AT  GENEVA.  20t 

That  was  the  thunderbolt  which  sent  me  to  the  foot 
of  the  cross  of  Jesus  Christ." 

During  the  short  interval  which  elapsed  between 
tlobert  Haldane's  first  visit  to  Geneva  and  his  return 
to  that  city,  as  mentioned  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Bicker- 
steth,  he  traversed  a  great  part  of  Switzerland.  At 
Lausanne  he  met  a  pious  and  zealous  English  lady,  a 
Miss  Greaves,  who  was  afterwards  very  useful  in 
persuading  him  to  return  to  Geneva.  The  eloquent 
and  excellent  M.  Galland  was  the  young  pastor  with 
whom  he  had  so  much  interesting  discussion  at  Berne, 
and  who  was  then  led  to  embrace  the  truth.  Thence 
Mr.  Haldane  proceeded  to  Basle,  where,  in  the  house 
of  the  celebrated  Baroness  Krudener,  the  friend 
of  the  Emperor  Alexander,  he  met  with  M.  Empey- 
taz.  With  the  baroness,  says  M.  Gaussen,  "Mr.  Hal- 
dane had  a  long  conversation.  He  found  in  her,  as 
he  said,  much  of  the  spirit  of  charity,  but  very  little 
knowledge."  Soon  after  his  arrival  at  Geneva  the 
second  time,  he  inquired  for  M.  Gaussen,  who  had 
been  licensed  as  a  minister  in  1815,  and  ordained  on 
Good  Friday,  in  1816,  as  the  pastor  of  Satigny,  a 
delightful  little  village  five  or  six  miles  beyond  the 
walls  of  Geneva,  and  was  the  young  man  described 
as  one  "  who  would  listen  to  his  statements,  draw 
himself  up,  but  not  answer  a  word."  "  I  had  already," 
M.  Gaussen  afterwards  wrote,  "submitted  my  faith  to 
the  great  doctrines  of  God's  word,  but  the  gravity  of 
Mr.  Haldane,  the  authority  with  which  he  always 
appealed  to  the  Scriptures,  and  his  profound  acquaint- 
ance with  them,  made  an  impression  on  me  never  to 


208  THE  HALDANES. 

be  eJQfaced,  and  that  just  before  the  time  when  the 
Lord,  by  a  sudden  stroke,  took  from  me  all  the  joys 
of  this  world.  When  I  paid  him  my  first  visit,  it  was 
on  the  invitation  of  Charles  Rieu  ;  and  when  he  said 
to  me,  in  the  middle  of  our  conversation,  that  he  had 
returned  purposely  to  see  me,  I  looked  at  him  with 
astonishment,  and  his  countenance  becattie  red.  I 
love  to  recall  these  little  details,  because  all  the  re- 
membrances of  that  excellent  man,  and  the  good  he 
did  among  us,  are  dear  and  precious.  His  visit  to 
Berne  was  blessed  to  M.  Galland,  and  his  visit  to 
Geneva  was  blessed  to  us  all.  I  visited  him  only 
occasionally,  but  I  make  bold  to  number  myself  with 
those  who  cherish  his  memory  with  the  fondest  and 
most  affectionate  gratitude." 

Alas,  that  Geneva,  for  centuries  an  antagonist  to 
the  Roman  heresy,  where  families  from  Italy  who 
were  proscribed  for  favoring  the  Reformation  found 
an  asylum,  where  Knox  and  other  exiles  from  Scot- 
land were  hospitably  received,  where  multitudes  of 
French  Christians  fled  for  refuge  after  the  revocation 
of  the  edict  of  Nantes,  had  long  ago  fallen  from  its 
ancient  faith,  and  proved  how  vain  are  the  mere 
efforts  of  men  to  nvaintain  true  religion  in  any  given 
locality.  The  younger  Turretine,  the  degenerate  son 
of  an  illustrious  sire,  and  Professor  Vinet,  who  fol- 
lowed him  in  the  professorship  of  theology,  cherished 
Unitarian  errors ;  and  such  men  as  D'Alembert  and 
Rousseau  complimented  them  for  their  pains,  or  rather, 
ridiculed  them  for  their  moral  dishonesty.  During 
the  reign  of  Napoleon,  the  first  emperor  of  France, 


ROBERT,  AT  GENEVA.  209 

Geneva  was  incorporated  with  that  country,  but  the 
consistory  was  permitted  to  maintain  its  lifeless  form 
of  Protestantism.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  it  was 
annexed  to  the  Helvetic  confederation;  but  with 
French  intercourse,  French  manners  had  crept  in. 
The  theatres  were  opened  on  the  Sunday  evenings, 
and  even  the  pastors,  on  certain  solemn  festivals,  dis- 
missed their  congregations  earlier,  that  they  might 
themselves  participate  in  the  festivities  of  the  Lord's 
day,  which  was  closed  with  fireworks  on  the  lake. 

At  this  period  of  its  history,  Robert  Haldane  en- 
tered Geneva;  and  as  he  passed  through  its  ancient 
gates,  he  observed  to  one  who  travelled  in  his  car- 
riage, that  he  had  been  pondering  on  the  divisions 
which  would  infallibly  ensue,  if  the  Lord  should  see 
good  to  make  the  gospel  of  his  grace  "  the  power  of 
God  unto  salvation."  But  by  whatever  means  he 
works,  it  is  important  to  mark  how  the  glory  exclu- 
sively belongs  to  him  who  is  the  Wonderful,  the 
Counsellor,  the  Mighty  God. 

It  may  be  well  to  say  here,  that  for  several  years 
before  Robert  Haldane  was  so  unexpectedly  conduct- 
ed to  Geneva,  some  smoking  embers  of  holy  fire  had 
been  collected,  and  some  sparks  of  light  kindled  amid 
the  darkness  of  its  spiritual  apostasy.  Even  so  early 
as  1810,  MM.  Empeytaz,  Bost,  and  a  few  other  youth- 
ful and  earnest  inquirers  after  truth,  had  become 
weary  of  the  wretched  food  supplied  by  their  pastors, 
and  instituted  a  society  to  advance  their  own  spirit- 
ual improvement.  They  knew  the  way  of  salvation 
very  imperfectly ;  but  it  is  impossible  to  read  their 


210  THE  HALDANES. 

first  animal  report,  written  by  M.  Empeytaz,  without 
seeing  that  he,  at  least,  had  even  then  been  led  to 
soar  above  the  chilling  mists  of  Socinianism,  and  to 
feel  somewhat  of  the  adoring  love  which  burned  in 
the  heart  of  Thomas  when,  convinced  of  the  dignity 
of  Jesus,  he  ^exclaimed,  "  My  Lord  and  my  God." 
Opposition  to  this  society  had  destroyed  its  existence 
in  1814,  when  its  most  serious  members  united  with 
the  Moravian  Brethren.  "Still,"  says  M.  Guers,  in 
his  interesting  Life  of  Henri  Pyt,  "the  time  of  the 
pure  light  had  not  arrived.  It  was  only  for  them  the 
twilight  of  the  gospel  day."  In  1813,  Madame  Kru- 
deiter  had  induced  M.  Empeytaz  to  enter  her  house- 
hold as  chaplain,  but  her  own  views  of  divine  truth 
were  very  indistinct,  and  in  some  things  visionary. 
At  the  beginning  of  1816,  too,  a  pious  English  or 
Welsh  mechanic  named  Wilcox^  belonging  to  the  Cal- 
vinistic  Methodists,  established  himself  on  the  ruins 
of  the  ancient  convent  of  Rive,  where  the  Reforma- 
tion had  been  first  proclaimed  in  1534  by  William 
Farel. 

By  these  various  means  was  the  Lord  opening  the 
way  for  Mr.  Haldane,  who  was  indeed  conducted  to 
the  right  place  at  the  right  time.  M.  Empeytaz,  one 
of  the  leaders  of  the  little  band  of  inquirers,'  had 
quitted  the  field  of  his  unequal  combat  with  a  con- 
sistory determined  to  crush  him.  His  colleague,  M. 
Bost,  had  assumed  the  post  of  suffragan  pastor  at 
Moutiers  Grand  Yal,  in  the  canton  of  Berne,  so  that 
his  genius  and  piety  no  longer  "  electrified  "  his  young 
friends  by  "his  noble  aspirations  after  God  and  holi- 


ROBERT,  AT  GENEVA.  211 

ness;"  and  Wilcox,  the  humble  artisan,  was  himself 
leaving  Geneva.  But  the  prayers  of  the  pious  were 
graciously  answered,  and  the  instructor  for  whom 
they  had  asked  was  brought,  "by  a  way  which  he 
knew  not,'^  to  prove  to  them  and  many  others  in 
Geneva  a  messenger  of  peace. 

The  arrival  of  Eobert  Haldane  at  Geneva  has 
been  already  given  in  his  own  simple  narrative ;  it 
has  also  been  thus  glowingly  described  by  the  pious 
biographer  of  Henri  Pyt :  "  The  English  friend  men- 
tioned above  departed  in  January,  1817,  leaving  his 
brethren  hungering  after  a  better  acquaintance  with 
the  counsels  of  God.  But  at  that  very  moment  the 
Lord,  touched  by  their  prayers,  sent  them  one  of  the 
most  eminent  of  his  servants.  Richard  Wilcox  had 
not  quitted  our  walls,  before  Robert  Haldane  was 
within  our  gates.  The  chosen  instrument  in  the 
hands  of  God  to  confirm  the  faith  of  Pyt  and  his 
friends,  he  was  destined  to  become  the  source  of 
blessing  to  many  others.  In  a  very  short  time  a 
striking  revival,  effected  by  his  means,  was  mani- 
fested in  the  school  of  theology.  Around  the  vener- 
able Haldane,  their  true  professor,  there  gathered 
habitually  more  than  twenty  pupils  of  that  auditory, 
converted  by  the  instrumentality  of  that  blessed 
word,  which  they  began  immediately  to  distribute  at 
Geneva,  or  at  a  later  period  to  carry  into  neighbor- 
ing countries— and  among  the  latter  may  be  named 
Henri  Pyt,  Jean  Guillaume  Gonthier,  and  Charles 
Rieu,  who  died  pastor  at  Frederica,  in  Denmark.  It 
was  on  Thursday,  the  sixth  of  February,  1817,  that 


212  THE  HALDANES. 

Mr.  Haldane  undertook  to  read  and  explain  to  them 
the  English  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Romans.  'He  knew 
the  Scriptures/  says  Pyt,  '  like  a  Christian  who  has 
had  for  his  master  the  same  Holy  Spirit  by  whom 
they  were  dictated.'  He  spoke  in  English ;  first  M. 
Rieii,  then  M.  Fred.  Monod  of  Paris,  or  M.  JamQs  of 
Breda,  interpreted.  Never,  we  venture  to  say,  since 
the  days  of  Francis  Turretine  and  Benedict  Pictet,  of 
holy  and  happy  memory — never  had  any  doctor  ex- 
pounded the  whole  counsel  of  God  with  such  purity, 
force,  and  fulness — never  had  so  bright  a  luminary 
shone  in  the  city  of  Calvin." 

The  student  of  theology  who  came  to  Mr.  Hal- 
dane's  hotel,  and  was  the  unconscious  means  of  de- 
taining him  at  Geneva,  little  thought  how  he  was 
then  employed  as  the  messenger  of  grace,  both  for 
himself  and  others.  It  was  M.  James,  afterwards 
French  pastor  of  Breda.  The  other,  whom  he  brought 
with  him,  was  M.  Charles  Rieu,  whose  brief  but  brill- 
iant career  and  triumphant  death-bed  are  associated 
with  the  history  of  the  church  of  Christ.  The  letter 
of  Mr.  Haldane  to  Mr.  Bickersteth,  already  quoted, 
goes  on  to  say, 

"The  two  students  with  whom  I  first  conversed 
brought  six  others  in  the  same  state  of  mind  with 
themselves,  with  whom  I  had  many  and  long  conver- 
sations. Their  visits  became  so  frequent,  and  at  such 
different  hours,  that  I  proposed  they  should  come  all 
together,  and  it  was  arranged  they  should  do  so  three 
times  a  week,  from  six  to  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening. 
This  gave  me  time  to  converse  with  others,  who,  from 


ROBERT,  AT  GENEVA.  213 

the  report  of  the  students,  began  to  visit  me,  as  well 
as  leisure  to  prepare  what  might  be  profitable  for 
their  instruction.  I  took  the  epistle  to  the  Romans 
for  my  subject;  and  this  portion  of  Scripture  I  con- 
tinued to  expound  to  them  during  the  winter,  and  to 
dilate  on  the  great  doctrines  it  unfolds. 

"  After  having  proceeded  in  this  manner  about  a 
fortnight  with  these  eight  students,  I  was  earnestly 
solicited,  in  the  name  of  the  other  students,  to  begin 
anew,  in  which  case  I  was  assured  that  the  rest  of 
them  would  attend.  I  accordingly  complied  with 
this  request,  and  during  the  whole  of  the  winter  of 
1816-17,  and  until  the  termination  of  their  studies  in 
the  following  summer,  almost  all  the  students  in  the- 
ology regularly  attended.  And  God  was  graciously 
pleased  to  accompany  his  own  word  with  power.  In 
addition  to  the  general  knowledge  which  all  of  them 
acquired,  a  goodly  number  soon  appeared  to  be  turned 
to  the  Lord.  Besides  those  who  attended  regularly, 
some  who  did  not  wish  to  appear  with  the  students 
came  at  different  hours  ;  and  in  conviersing  with  them 
at  those  times,  or  after  finishing  the  public  course  at 
eight  o'clock,  I  was  often  engaged  till  near  midnight. 
Others  of  the  inhabitants  of  Geneva,  unconnected 
with  the  schools  of  learning,  and  of  both  sexes,  occa- 
sionally visited  me  in  the  afternoon  to  receive  in- 
structions concerning  the  gospel.  The  impression 
produced  was,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  so  great,  that 
discussions  became  frequent  on  the  grand  truths  con- 
nected with  salvation. 

"In  this  manner  matters  proceeded  at  Geneva  till 


214  THE  HALDANES. 

the  middle  of  the  summer  of  1817,  which  terminated 
the  studies  of  the  theological  students.  The  pastors 
attempted  to  instigate  the  goyernment  to  banish  me 
from  their  canton ;  and  when  this  proved  unsuccess- 
ful, it  was  proposed  in  the  'Venerable  Company'  that 
I  should  be  cited  to  appear  before  them,  to  answer 
for  the  doctrines  I  was  inculcating  on  the  students. 
On  which  one  of  them  observed,  'Yous  ne  gagnerez 
pas  grande  chose  par  cela' — [You  will  not  gain  much 
by  that.l  And  the  matter  dropped."  He  proceeds 
to  state  that,  on  inquiring  why  the  pastors  failed  in 
this  attempt,  he  learned  that  if  strong  measures  had 
been  resorted  to,  the  students  had  resolved  to  leave 
their  professors.  Yarious  measures  were  used  to 
exclude  from  the  pulpits  the  hated  doctrines  of  the 
deity  of  the  Saviour,  of  original  sin,  of  grace,  and 
effectual  calling ;  but  in  spite  of  all  their  endeavors, 
the  light  was  diffused  to  a  very  remarkable  degree  in 
Geneva,  which,  through  the  ministration  of  these  So- 
cinian  and  Arian  teachers,  had  fallen  from  the  glory 
which  once  belonged  to  it,  and  instead  of  being  the 
centre  of  illumination  to  Protestant  Europe,  had  be- 
come a  synagogue  of  Satan,  and  a  citadel  of  ignorance 
and  darkness. 

On  both  sides  of  the  controversy  the  press  was 
extensively  employed.  In  November,  1816,  M.  Em- 
peytaz  published  a  pamphlet  in  favor  of  the  divinity 
of  Jesus  Christ,  which  produced  a  great  excitement 
among  the  students.  Those  on  the  side  of  the  pas- 
tors assembled  in  the  grand  hall  of  the  consistory, 
and  chose  for  their  president  M.  Merle  d'Aubign(3, 


ROBERT,  AT  GENEVA.  215 

who  was  himself  destined  to  receive  tlie  gospel  from 
Eobert  Haldane,  and  to  become  an  illustrious  cham- 
pion of  the  faith.  Such  was  then  the  prevalence  of 
error  among  the  students,  that  two  of  them,  MM. 
Henri  Pyt  and  Guers,  were  the  only  persons  who 
refused  to  sign  the  anti- Christian  protest.  Professor 
Cheneviere,  a  few  years  later,  in  his  "Summary  of 
the  Theological  Controversies  which  have  of  late 
years  agitated  Geneva,"  pointedly  attacked  Mr.  Hal- 
dane as  one  of  the  chief  authors  of  all  the  agitation. 
He  described  him  as  a  rigid  Calvinist,  who  invited  a 
number  of  ministers  and  students  to  his  house,  where 
he  occupied  their  minds  with  the  mysterious  points  in 
the  Christian  religion,  "inoculated  them  with  his.  own 
intolerant  spiri^aught  them  to  despise  reason,  and 
to  trample  on  good  works."  To  this  attack,  the  late 
Eev.  Dr.  Pye  Smith  of  London  said  in  reply,  "  I  had 
never  the  happiness  of  knowing  a  more  dispassionate 
or  careful  reasoner,  or  one  whose  habits  of  mind  were 
more  distinguished  by  the  demand  and  scrutiny  of 
sufficient  evidence  upon  every  subject.  A  grosser 
error  could  not  be  committed  than  to  impute  to  such 
a  man  the  sentiment  that  4n  the  affairs  of  religion, 
reason  ought  to  be  trampled  under  foot.' "  ,  And  the 
venerable  Dr.  Wilson,  the  late  bishop  of  Calcutta, 
describes  M.  Cheneviere  as  "a  harsh,  violent,  imprac- 
ticable man,  confessedly  a  Socinian  in  principle.  He 
really  frightened  me  by  his  fierce  attack  on  spiritual 
religion." 

Robert  Haldane  himself  met  his  opponent  in  a 
solid  and  practical  manner,  giving  an  epitome  of  his 


216  THE  HALDANES 

Exposition  of  the  Romans,  and  touching  with  a  mas- 
ter's hand  almost  every  point  of  the  great  contro- 
versy. Of  the  fearless  manner  in  which  he  addressed 
the  professor,  the  reader  shall  judge.  Mr.-Haldane 
says,  "I  am  free  to  declare,  that  never  in  my  life  did 
I  hear  the  word  of  God  so  directly  contradicted  from 
the  pulpit.  In  your  exclamation,  'Ah,  are  we  not 
born  pure?'  profound  ignorance  of  the  word  of  God 
was  manifested,  and  the  whole  train  of  your  reason^ 
ing  proceeded  on  this  assumed  principle — a  principle 
not  more  contrary  to  the  declarations  of  Scripture, 
the  conduct  of  Providence,  and  the  whole  plan  of 
redemption,  than  to  the  universal  experience  of  man- 
kind. And  yet,  sir,  you  are  theological  professor  at 
Geneva." 

The  results  of  Robert  Haldane's  instructions  to 
the  students  at  Geneva  were  of  the  highest  and  best 
kind.  An  extract  or  two  from  a  letter  addressed  to 
Mr.  Haldane  by  one  of  them,  dated  July  7,  1819, 
after  he  had  become  a  pastor  at  Frederica,  in  Den- 
mark, may  be  given  as  an  illustration.  Thus  writes 
M.  Charles  Rieu : 

"Sir,  and  much  honored  father  in  Jesus  Christ,  I 
have  at  all  times  deeply  engraved  in  my  heart  the 
instructions  which  the  Lord  vouchsafed  to  me  the 
grace  to  receive  from  you,  sir,  and  which  opened  my 
eyes  to  the  fundamental  truths  of  the  gospel.  Now 
that  I  am  called  by  a  benediction  for  which  I  cannot 
enough  praise  the  Lord,  to  teach  them,  as  well  as  to 
feed  on  them  continually  myself,  I  feel  every  day  more 
and  more  the  incalculable  importance  and  the  absolute 


ROBERT,  AT  GENEVA.  21t 

necessity  of  founding  upon  these  truths  all  other  iiit' 
structions  and  exhortations,  if  we  wish  that  they 
should  penetrate  into  the  heart.  m.'^^ 

"  To  lead  a  parish  of  laboring  people  to  Christ  is 
the  work  that  the  Lord  has  confided  to  me  at  this 
time.  Not  having  heard  the  truth  preached  to  them 
for  many  years,  I  found  them  in  that  state  of  luke- 
warmness  and  alienation  which  naturally  follows  the 
neglect  of  the  gospel.  I  seek  to  disperse  to  them  the 
mystery  of  godliness  with  the  greatest  fidelity  possible. 

"  If  your  engagements  permit  you  to  send  me  a 
word  of  friendship,  will  you  impart  to  me  all  the 
counsels,  exhortations,  and  directions,  that  you  believe 
proper  to  fortify  me  in  faith  and  piety  in  Jesus  Christ. 
In  my  situation,  insulated  from  all  my  brethren,  I 
have  greater  need  than  others  to  be  roused  by  saluta- 
ry advices.  I  desire,  above  all,  to  make  rapid  prog- 
ress in  the  knowledge  of  the  holy  Scriptures,  since 
these  are  our  only  powerful  arms,  to  convince,  to 
overturn,  and  to  build  up.  Following  your  counsel, 
I  have  resumed  the  reading  of  the  Old  Testament,  and 
I  have  there  found^ — what  I  did  not  before  know  was 
there,  when  I  was  less  instructed  in  divine  truth,  and 
when,  in  many  respects,  the  veil  remained  upon  my 
eyes — that  Christ  is  everywhere  in  it,  from  one  end 
of  it  to  the  other.  All  render  testimony  to  Him. 
The  prophecies,  in  particular,  were  never  presented 
to  me  with  so  much  grandeur  and  so  much  beauty. 
Oh,  how  admirable  is  this !  What  perfection !  What 
agreement !  How  is  this  work  raised  above  all  the 
impious  attacks  of  men  1" 

Haldanes.  10 

<■■ 


218  THE  HALDANES. 

M.  Rieu  closed  Ms  short  but  brilliant  career  within 
two  years  from  the  date  of  this  letter.  He  was  seized 
with  an  epidemic  fever,  and  addressed  a  solemn  charge 
to  his  parishioners,  telling  them  that  the  vaulted  roof 
of  their  church  would  bear  witness  to  them  that  he 
had  preached  Jesus  Christ,  and  declared  to  them  the 
counsel  of  God,  though  with  much  weakness  and  fear 
of  men ;  assuring  them  that  even  to  his  latest  breath 
he  would  pray  for  them,  and  call  down  upon  them 
the  blessings  of  the  Almighty.  His  journal,  which  he 
kept  till  almost  the  moment  when  he  became  deliri- 
ous, was  only  intended  for  his  family,  and  indicates  ^ 
what  he  calls  "  the  unutterable  peace  and  joy  "  of  his 
soul.     Thus  does  he  write  in  it : 

"  I  know  in  whom  I  have  believed.  I  advance, 
with  a  joy  not  to  be  described,  into  the  dark  valley, 
for  I  advance  towards  Jesus,  towards  my  God,  tow- 
ards Christ  who  has  conquered  for  us.  All  his  prom- 
ises converge  in  one  point  to  overflow  my  soul  with 
a  joy  it  never  felt  before.  No,  he  has  not  deceived 
us.  Happy  those  who  have  believed  without  having 
seen.  I  go  to  see  him  as  he  is.  I  see  him  already^ 
I  feel  his  hand  supporting  every  part  of  my  soul ;  in 
proportion  as  this  clay  falls,  the  inward  man  is  re- 
newed. I  go  to  be  changed  into  his  image,  to  be  like 
unto  him  there,  where  there  is  no  mourning.  How 
could  I  wish  to  make  this  joy  pass  into  your  souls  I 
But  it  is  there  where  you  will  enjoy  it,  and  it  is  He 
who  will  now  console  you ;  for  I  am  not  separated 
from  you :  the  moment  when  I  fall  asleep  here,  I  see 
with  you  Christ  coming  in  the  clouds.     May  you  all 


ROBERT,  AT  GENEVA.  219 

sleep  in  him.  .  .  .  Resurrectioja^and  life.  Eternity--, 
eternity  with  Jesus  1"  -    :;->--*  -^^      ^  ^^.) 

But  we  must  go  back  again  to  1817,  when  M.  Rieu 
and  his  companions  bore  their  part  in  the  warfare 
against  error  in  Geneva.  Discussions  respecting  the 
gospel  became  frequent,  but  there  was  no  public  col- 
lision between  Robert  Haldane  and  the  pastors  or 
professors.  He  heard  their  sermons  levelled  against 
himself,  or  received  the  report  of  them  from  others, 
and  so  took  occasion,  with  as  little  of  personality  as 
was  possible,  to  expose  their  ignorance,  rebuke  their 
errors,  and  expose  their  sophistry.  He  says,  "  As  in 
the  presence  of  God,  I  spoke  and  acted,  resolving  to 
know  no  man  after  the  flesh,  and  to  give  place  to  no 
one  by  subjection,  no,  not  for  an  hour.  These  duties 
appear  to  me  not  to  be  peculiar  to  prophets  and  apos- 
tles, but  in  such  circumstances  to  be  incumbent  on  all 
who  know  the  Lord,  and  seek  to  serve  him  with  such 
talents  as  he  has  committed  to  them.  Accordingly 
I  labored  to  introduce  the  knowledge  of  salvation 
among  that  benighted  people."       .  't  *^.<i;  • 

The  fire  which  had  long  smouldered  within  the 
precincts  of  the  "  Yenerable  Company,"  soon  suddenly 
broke  out  into  a  flame.  Its  first  violence  was  directed 
against  a  young  minister  who  was  Regent  in  the  Uni- 
versity, and  whose  genius  and  accomplishments  had 
promised  to  conduct  him  to  emolument  and  renown. 
To  Cesar  Malan  were  first  given  the  grace  and  glory 
to  raise  from  the  ground  the  tarnished  banner  of  the 
church  of  Geneva,  and  from  the  pulpit  of  Calvin 
boldly  to  proclaim,  without  reserve  or  compromise, 


220  THE  HALDANES. 

that  gospel  whose  echoes  scarcely  lingered  within  his 
temple.  Thus  did  he  himself  write  to  the  Kev.  Ed- 
ward Bickersteth : 

-  "  At  the  time  I  was  awakened  to  life  everlasting, 
I  was  still  in  darkness  and  great  feebleness  in  almost 
all  points,  and  I  know  how  useful,  how  efficacious, 
under  Grod's  blessing,  to  my  mind,  to  my  soul,  to  my 
humbled  heart,  were  the  teaching  and  fatherly  guid- 
ance of  Mr.  Haldane,  whom,  in  the  bonds  of  love,  I 
honor  as  a  father  sent  to  me  by  God,  and  who,  before 
he  left  Geneva,  had  seen,  not  only  in  myself  but  in 
numerous  other  instances,  that  the  word  of  truth,  (not 
*  tracts  or  addresses,')  had  been  blessed — yes,  sir,  won- 
derfully blessed  from  above — ^for  the  present  and  the 
eternal  happiness  of  many  souls.  The  glory  be  to  the 
Lord,  but  the  joy  to  that  servant  of  Jesus  and  his 
spiritual  children  and  brethren  in  our  precious  faith." 
M.  Malan  had  been  induced  to  visit  Mr.  Hal- 
dane by  .the  influence  of  M.  Gaussen.  Being  himself 
a  minister,  he  could  not  with  propriety  attend  at  the 
meetings  appropriated  to  the  students,  and  he  was 
somewhat  prejudiced  against  what  he  heard  of  the 
Calvinistic  doctrines  inculcated.  But  after  spending 
an  evening  with  the  missionary  visitor,  at  his  apart- 
ments in  the  hotel  La  Balance^  he  went  away  more 
favorably  impressed.  His  satisfaction  was  increased 
by  a  remarkable  incident  on  the  closing  evening  of 
1816.  He  was  then  the  manager  of  a  charitable  so- 
ciety, in  which  he  was  deeply  interested,  and  which 
was  greatly  in  need  of  support.  Its  claims  had  been 
mentioned  to  Mr.  Haldane,  and  when  he  accompanied 


ROBERT,  AT  GENEVA  221 

M.  Malan  to  the  door  of  his  apartments,  and  took 
leave  of  his  guest,  without  solicitation  he  placed  in 
his  friend's  hand  some  gold  pieces  as  a  contribution 
to  the  charity.  As  soon  as  the  door  was  closed,  M. 
Malan,  by  the  light  of  the  nearest  lamp  on  the  stair- 
case, counted  the  twelve  Napoleons  he  had  received, 
and  found  that  they  amounted  to  the  very  sum — -two 
hundred  and  forty  francs — which  was  next  day  re- 
quired to  pay  the  baker's  bill,  and  the  want  of  which, 
on  that  very  evening  had  been  a  source  of  depressing 
anxiety.  This  interposition  of  Providence  contrib- 
uted, as  might  be  expected,  to  increase  M.  Malan's 
interest  in  the  remarkable  stranger,  and  from  that 
night  his  visits  were  repeated,  his  inquiries  became 
more  searching,  and  their  conversations  more  earnest. 
The  result  has  been  told  in  part,  but  Malan  further 

says,  ::.i-^:>.:  'yM:.  . 

"  It  was  thus  that  the  wise  Haldane  taught ^  me. 
In  general  he  waited  till  I  put  a  question  to  him,  and 
I  only  went  to  his  house  to  hear  his  answers.  He 
often  made  me  repeat  the  question,  to  assure  himself 
that  he  entirely  understood  me.  '  What  do  you  think 
on  that  subject  V  he  would  say  to  me.  I  gave  him 
my  opinion.  Then  he  would  ask  nie  to  support  it  by 
Scripture.  It  was  thus  that  he  convinced  me  of  igno- 
rance or  weakness.  And  when  he  saw  me  perplexed 
by  my  want  of  acquaintance  with  the  Bible,  he  would 
begin  to  establish  the  truth  in  question  by  passages 
so  clear,  so  explicit,  that  it  was  impossible  but  that  I 
should  yield  to  the  evidence.  If  one  of  these  pas- 
sages did  not  appear  to  me  conclusive,  or  if  I  gave  it 


222  THE  HALDANES. 

a  false  interpretation,  he  would  produce  immediately 
four  or  five  others  which  supported  or  explained  the 
first,  and  put  the  true  sense  beyond  a  doubt.  In  all 
this  discussion  he  would  only  say  a  few  words.  It 
was  his  index  which  spoke ;  for,  exactly  as  his  Bible, 
literally  worn  out  from  having  been  read  and  reread, 
opened  of  itself  here  or  there,  his  finger  rested  upon 
the  passage,  and  while  I  read  it,  his  piercing  eye 
looked  me  through,  as  if  he  wished  to  discern  the 
impression  which  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  made  upon 
my  soul." 

It  is  highly  gratifying  to  observe  that,  under  the 
circumstances  we  have  detailed,  there  met  at  Geneva 
two  honored  brethren  from  the  United  States,  who 
bore  testimony,  in  connection  with  Robert  Haldane, 
to  the  great  truths  of  the  gospel.  We  allude  to  the 
Rev.  Dr.  John  M.  Mason  and  the  Rev.  Matthias  Bru- 
en,  who  travelled  together  in  search  of  health  and  of 
opportunities  of  usefulness.  M.  Malan  speaks  of  Dr. 
Mason  as  saying  to  him,  "  Oh,  if  it  was  necessary  to 
give  my  blood  to  bring  over  those  who  raise  them- 
selves against  the  gospel,  I  would  shed  it.  But  it  is 
not  the  blood  of  man  which  is  necessary  ;  it  is  that  of 
God,  shed  upon  the  cross." 

An  extract  of  a  letter  written  by  Mr.  Bruen  to 
his  brother,  dated  at  Paris,  March  26,  1817,  cannot 
be  read  without  interest.  He  says,  "It  is  greatly 
to  be  lamented  that  so  many  of  Calvin's  successors 
should  be  unworthy  of  that  honor.  The  cruel  heresy 
Socinianism  has  in  a  great  measure  taken  the  place 
of  the  truth  of  our  God  and  Saviour.    But  it  gave  us 


EGBERT,  AT  GENEVA.  223 

great  pleasure  to  find  that  the  worst  time  has  gone 
by;  especially  among  the  young  ministers  and  stu- 
dents, there  is  a  strong  disposition  towards  the  truth. 
So  little  real  knowledge  does  the  course  of  lectures 
given  by  the  professors  ajfford  them,  that  they  are 
anxious  to  seize  every  opportunity  of  instruction.  A 
Scotch  gentleman,  who  has  been  there  some  time,  has 
a  number  who  visit  him  regularly  to  study  the  Scrip- 
tures, a  subject  to  which  most  of  the  professors  do 
tiot  think  of  turning  their  attention.  One  of  the 
things  which  made  my  time  glide  by  so  rapidly,  was 
the  number  who  came  continually  to  have  their  diffi- 
culties explained  and  the  doctrines  of  grace  illustrat- 
ed. The  evening  before  we  came  away,  at  one  time 
Dr.  Mason  had,  I  think,  fourteen.  There  is  now 
every  appearance  that  things  will  return  to  their  old 
condition.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  conceive  with 
what  anxiety  they  inquire,  and  the  influence  it  has 
when  they  find  persons  from  remote  regions  answer- 
ing immediately  the  current  objections  to  these  doc- 
trines, for  the  depravity  of  man  which  excites  them  is 
the  same  everywhere.  It  could  not  fail  to  strike  me 
as  very  remarkable  that  we  should  have  arrived  there 
just  at  this^  time,  when  the  line  is  becoming  marked, 
and  it  is  very  evident  that  Dr.  Mason's  character  and 
instructions  will  not  be  without  effect.  This  visit 
then  may  prove  of  high  consequence  to  the  best  inter- 
ests of  the  church." 

One  scene  connected  with  the  early  evangelical 
ministry  of  Dr.  Malan  must  here  be  briefly  described. 
It  would  seem,  that  even  before  the  arrival  of  Mr. 


224  THE  HALDANES. 

Haldane  in  Geneva,  Malan  had  actually  preached  a 
sermon  that  was  doctrinally  true,  without  exciting 
much  attention.  Whether  his  doctrine  was  not  under- 
stood by  his  audience,  or  the  coldness  of  his  manner 
betrayed  the  fact  that  his  soul  was  not  yet  fully 
awakened,  as  it  afterwards  became  by  the  animated 
exhortations  of  Dr.  Mason,  it  is  certain,  that  when  he 
was  indeed  roused,  and  the  same  sentiments  were 
uttered  before  the  Arian  and  Socinian  company,  by 
lips  touched  by  evangelical  fire,  and  from  a  heart 
burning  with  love  to  Christ,  all  the  enmity  of  the 
natural  man  rose  up  in  arms  against  the  faithful  wit- 
ness for  a  dishonored  Saviour.  His  eloquent  words 
fell  on  the  leaden  slumbers  of  his  audience  like  bolts 
of  fire  shot  from  heaven.  Pastors,  professors,  syn- 
dics, and  private  citizens  were  cut  to  the  heart,  and 
almost  gnashed  upon  him  with  their  teeth,  as  Dr. 
Malan  descended  from  the  pulpit  and  passed  through 
their  opening  ranks  unrecognized,  an  avoided  and 
rejected  man.  It  was  not  in  his  loving  heart  and 
tender  sensibilities  to  disregard  the  derision  to  which 
he  was  thus  publicly  exposed.  His  own  relatives 
turned  from  him  with  unmingled  emotions  of  disap- 
pointment, vexation,  and  shame.  His  affectionate 
wife,  not  then,  as  afterwards,  a  "  partaker  of  like  pre- 
cious faith,"  beheld  him  with  a  grieved  and  wounded 
heart,  and  by  her  looks  reproached  him  with  the  ship- 
wreck of  all  the  cherished  dreams  of  their  young 
ambition.  He  walked  in  his  robes  from  the  ancient 
temple  of  Calvin  to  his  own  house  dejected  and  over- 
whelmed, intending  to  hide  himself  in  his  secret  cham- 


ROBERT,  AT  GENEVA.  225 

ber ;  but  on  entering  his  door,  the  manly  form  and 
benignant  countenance  of  Robert  Haldane  met  his 
eye,  and  his  sinking  spirits  were  revived  as  by  a  cor- 
dial, when  his  hand  was  grasped  and  the  words  were 
heard,  "Thank  God,  the  gospel  has  been  once  more 
preached  in  Geneva." 

The  result  of  all  this  to  the  preacher,  the  reader 
has  already  anticipated.  An  interdict  was  soon  after 
laid  on  Dr.  Malan  against  appearing  again  in  the 
pulpit ;  he  was  divested  of  all  his  offices,  and  pursued 
as  far  as  his  enemies  could  pursue  him  as  the  enemy 
of  religion.  Happily,  however,  it  was  now  seen  that 
Messrs.  Gaussen,  Pyt,  and  Guers  had  "  great  boldness 
in  the  faith."  They  were  commanded  by  M.  Chene- 
viere  to  send  in  to  him  a  confession  of  their  faith ; 
and  though,  with  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent  blended 
with  the  innocence  of  the  dove,  they  clothed  it  in  the 
language  of  a  confession  which  had  been  sealed  with 
the  blood  of  some  of  the  noblest  martyrs  of  the 
French  church,  the  professor  declared  that  such  senti- 
ments were  enough  to  make  men  "brigands;"  they 
were  denied  ordination,  and  compelled  only  to  preach 
the  gospel  without  the  bounds  of  the  church  to  which 
they  had  devoted  their  lives. 

Yery  soon  was  it  seen  that  in  Geneva  there  was  a 
goodly  number  instructed  in  the  truths  of  the  gospel, 
and  able  to  impart  their  knowledge  to  others.  The 
names  of  Gaussen  and  Malan  were  of  themselves  a 
tower  of  strength,  and  they  still  for  a  time  clung  to 
the  ancient  church,  though  they  protested  against  its. 
apostasy.     Messrs.  Guers,  Pyt,  Gonthier,  and  others 


226  THE  HALDANES. 

held  reunions  in  the  place  where  the  young'  reformer 
Froment  had  in  ancient  days  opened  a  gratuitous 
school,  and  been  the  first  to  relight  the  lamp  of  pure 
Christianity  in  the  city  to  which  Calvin  afterwards 
gave  the  lustre  of  his  name. 

Mr.  Haldane  now  considered  his  work  at  Geneva' 
accomplished,  and  the  same  earnest  impulse  which 
had  led  him  to  that  city  was  about  to  conduct  him  to 
Montauban.  He  was  succeeded  in  many  of  his  evan- 
gelical labors  in  Geneva  by  Mr.  Henry  Drummond,  a 
banker  in  London,  whose  attention  had  been  most 
providentially  attracted  to  the  gospel,  and  who  had 
been  as  wonderfully  led  to  Geneva.  His  great  wealth, 
combined  with  his  fervent  zeal,  made  him  eminently 
useful  to  the  poor  persecuted  ministers. 

Of  the  full  success  of  Robert  Haldane's  labors  at 
Geneva  we  cannot  speak,  but  we  know  that  of  twen- 
ty-one students  who  attended  his  expositions  in  that 
city,  only  one  did  not  appear  to  be  impressed ;  and 
the  greater  part,  notwithstanding  the  opposition  of 
their  professors,  and  the  risk,  nay,  the  certainty  that 
their  temporal  prospects  would  be  blighted,  avowed 
themselves  subjects  of  a  saving  change — converts  to 
evangelical  truth.  The  magnitude  of  the  work  has 
become  more  visible  as  years  have  rolled  on,  and 
while  the  hand  of  the  Lord  is  yet  overruling  all 
events,  it  becomes  increasingly  evident  that,  to  use 
the  words  already  quoted,  "It  was  of  God  that  Rob- 
ert Haldane  should  visit  Geneva  at  ttat  time." 


V       ^  ■  >i 


>■ 


»,*    - 


-X' 


BOBERT,  AT  MONTAUBAN.  22t 

••■  -:  \,:$f  ■ 

CHAPTER  XI. 

FROM  THE  JOURNEY  OF  ROBERT  HALDANE  TO 
MONTAUBAN,  TO  THE  DECEASE  OF  SEVERAL 
OLD  FRIENDS. 

1817  TO  1833. 

At  the  end  of  June,  1817,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert 
Haldane  left  G-eneva  on  their  route  to  Montauban. 
They  travelled  by  way  of  Lyons,  where  they  spent 
the  Lord's  day,  and  attended  the  French  Protestant 
worship.  There,  however,  they  "heard  not  a  word 
of  the  gospel."  Mr.  Haldane  sought  an  interview 
with  the  pastor,  but  writes,  "He  had  not  time  to  con- 
verse with  me  on  the  subject  of  religion,  being  fully 
occupied  with  the  fashionable  amusements  in  which 
those  who  are  there  designated  Christians  spend  the 
evening  of  that  day."  More  than  thirty  years  had 
elapsed  since  Robert  Haldane  had  visited  Lyons  and 
admired  the  magnificence  of  that  city,  where  the 
relics  of  the  palace  of  the  Caesars  and  the  tombs  of 
the  early  Christian  martyrs  alike  remind  us  of  the 
fading  glories  of  the  world,  and  the  immortal  trophies 
of  the  victory  of  faith.  But  he  had  now  only  one 
object  in  view ;  and  in  quitting  Geneva  he  did  not 
seek  either  relaxation  or  amusement.  At  Geneva  he 
enjoyed  the  magnificent  scenery  by  which  he  was 
surrounded,  yet  declined  joining  in  any  excursions 
that  might  take  him  away  from  the  important  work 
to  which  he  was  dedicated.  For  the  most  part,  in 
the  afternoon  only  he  walked  out  on  the  promenade 


228  THE  HALDANES. 

St.  Antoine  with  Mrs.  Haldane.  "  With  her,"  says 
M.  Gaussen,  ''  I  know  that  he  had  much  secret  prayer 
for  a  blessing  on  his  labors."  But  while  he  pursued 
his  missionary  work  with  intense  earnestness,^  his  fre- 
quent allusions  to  the  mountains  around  Geneva,  and 
to  the  rich  and  well-watered  landscape,  told  how 
greatly  he  admired  the  glorious  sunsets  which  lighted 
up  the  sublimities  of  Mont  Blanc,  or  gilded  with  efful- 
gence the  milder  beauties  of  the  wooded  Jura. 

Montauban  was  then  the  centre  of  education  for 
the  Protestants  of  the  Reformed  church  in  France,  as 
Strasburg  in  the  north  was  for  the  Lutherans.  It  is 
situated  in  a  magnificent  plain  on  the  banks  of  the 
Tarn,  before  it  joins  the  Garonne,  and  in  clear  weath- 
er commands  a  distant  prospect  of  the  majestic  range 
of  the  Pyrenees.  When  Robert  Haldane  arrived 
there,  Montauban  presented  but  a  feeble  light  glim- 
mering amid  the  sepulchral  darkness  of  Arianism 
and  unbelief.  There  were,  however,  a  few  men  with 
whom  he  enjoyed  pleasant  intercourse.  Among  these 
was  M.  De  Rapin,  a  private  gentleman  of  fortune, 
residing  at  La  Garde,  five  or  six  miles- from  Montau- 
ban. He  had  been  a  faithful  confessor  of  Christ, 
even  in  revolutionary  times,  when  it  was  considered  a 
crime  to  possess  a  Bible,  and  people  sometimes  buried 
j,it  in  their  garden,  that  thus  they  might  escape  the 
guillotine.  The  dean  of  the  faculty  was  the  distin- 
guished and  learned  M.  Encontre,  next  to  La  Place 
then  considered  the  most  distinguished  mathematician 
in  France.  This  gentleman  and  Robert  Haldane  had 
many  earnest  conversations  together  on  the  way  of 


ROBERT,  AT  MONTAUBAN.  229 

salvation;  and  when  the  dean,  in  pursuit  of  health, 
finally-  took  leave,  and  as  it  proved,  bade  a  dying 
farewell  to  his  friend  and  teacher,  in  the  spirit  of  a 
little  child  this  eminent  man  grasped  his  hand  and 
said,  "  I  am  a  great  sinner,  but  I  have  a  great  Surety." 
Many  other,  indications  of  his  successful  labors  grad- 
ually developed  themselves. 

But  even  before  Mr.  Haldane  visited  Montauban, 
there  had  been  a  state  of  preparation  similar  to  that 
which  had  previously  been  seen  at  Geneva.  M. 
Gachon,  a  pious  Moravian  missionary,  had,  in  the 
south  of  France,  been  proclaiming  the  simple  truths 
of  the  gospel,  and  under  the  influences  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  several  had  been  awakened  to  see  their  need 
of  a  Saviour.  The  spark  was  indeed  but  feeble,  and 
M.  Bonnard,  although  in  correspondence  with  all  the 
French  reformed  churches,  could  not  refer  to  more 
than  four  or  five  ministers  of  whom  it  could  be  confi- 
dently said  that  they  preached  the  gospel.  A  few 
sentences  from  Mr.  Haldane's  own  pen  shall  describe 
his  labors  and  success. 

"At  Montauban,  where  I  resided  more  than  two 
years,  I  proceeded  in  the  same  manner  as  I  had  done 
at  Geneva,  in  what  appears  to  me  the  spirit  which 
the  Scriptures  both  inculcate  and  exemplify.  I  spoke 
plainly  to  the  students,  and  to  all  with  whom  I  had 
an  opportunity  of  conversing.  With  pastors  who 
came  from  a  different  part  of  France  I  entered  into 
such  close  conversation  as  led  us  at  once  to  discover 
the  points  on  which  we  differed,  and  then  discussed 
them  fully.    I  endeavored  to  expose  every  thing  false 


230  THE  HALDANES. 

in  doctrine  that  I  had  heard  from  the  pulpit,  and  to 
point  out  to  all  to  whom  I  had  access  whatever  ap- 
peared to  be  erroneous.  The  Lord  was  graciously- 
pleased  to  give  testimony  to  the  word  of  his  grace, 
which  I  was  enabled  to  declare  at  Montauban,  both 
among  the  students  and  others." 

The  most  important  production  of  Eobert  Hal- 
dane's  pen  was  his  "  Exposition  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans/^  which  in  its  first  form  appeared  in  the 
French  language,  and  embodied  the  substance  of  his 
instructions  at  Geneva  and  Montauban.  He  was 
afterwards  prevailed  on  to  publish  it  in  English.  It 
cost  him  much  labor,  but  it  was  to  him  a  constant 
source  of  profit  and  delight.  It  was  his  earnest  and 
unceasing  prayer  that  this  work,  the  result  of  hard 
study,  might  be  blessed  in  checking  the  growth  of 
those  loose  and  erroneous  views  of  the  atonement  of 
Christ  which  for  many  years  past  have  extensively 
prevailed.  He  regarded  unscriptural  views  of  this 
doctrine  and  its  kindred  one,  the  imputed  righteous- 
ness of  Christ,  dangerous  to  souls,  as  they  tend  to  the 
subversion  of  "  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints." 
The  last  completed  labor  of  his  life  was  the  revision 
and  enlargement  of  this  work,  which  he  performed 
amid  decaying  and  rapidly  failing  health,  turning 
from  it  for  nothing,  except  for  a  short  period,  that  he 
might  write  one  or  two  tracts  in  opposition  to  an 
attempt  made  to  desecrate  the  Sabbath  by  running 
cars  on  the  Glasgow  railway.  This  work  on  the 
Romans  was  republished  in  the  United  States,  and 
still  has  an  extensive  circulation. 


ROBERT,  AT  MONTAUBAN.  231 

Persecution  will  everywhere  attend  the  faithful 
publication  of  the  gospel.  It  was  not  the  fault  of 
the  Arians  that  Robert  Haldane's  labors  at  Montau- 
ban  were  not  put  down  by  the  strong  arm  of  the 
government.  At  the  time  Professor  Pradel  regarded 
him  as  "  a  disastrous  meteor,"  Mr.  Haldane  was  de- 
nounced to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  as  a  firebrand, 
who  was  teaching  Calvinism.  In  consequence  of 
these  representations,  M.  De  Yillele,  who  was  then  at 
the  head  of  the  French  cabinet,  made  some  inquiries 
of  the  British  ambassador  respecting  this  remarkable 
foreigner.  After  full  investigation,  M.  De  Yillele 
declared  that  it  mattered  not  to  him  whether  Mr. 
Haldane  taught  Calvinism  or  any  other  ism^  provided 
it  was  not  Deism. 

Among  many  instances  which  might  be  related  of 
the  blessing  which  followed  Robert  Haldane's  labors 
at  Montauban,  he  has  himself  recorded  one.  A  pas- 
tor in  the  south  of  France  came  to  visit  his  brother  at 
La  Garde,  who  had  received  the  truth  spoken  by  M. 
Gachon.  His  father  too,  an  old  man  ninety  years 
of  age,  had  listened  with  joy  to  the  gospel,  as  preach- 
ed by  Henri  Pyt.  He  himself  was  opposed  to  what 
he  considered  the  fanaticism  of  the  new  doctrines, 
and  he  had  even  succeeded  in  shaking  the  faith  of  his 
aged  parent.  During  his  visit  to  his  brother,  he  was 
grieved  to  hear  that  brother  speak  of  salvation  by 
faith  without  works,  but  on  attempting  to  enter  into 
controversy,  was  told,  that  if  he  wished  to  argue  on 
the  subject,  he  had  a  fine  opportunity  of  doing  so 
with  Mr.  Haldane  himself.      Confident  in  his  own 


232  THE  HALDANES. 

powers,  the  indignant  pastor  obtained  an  introduction, 
called  on  Eobert  Haldane,  entered  into  discussion 
with  him,  and  finally  was  himself  enlightened  in  the 
truth. 

Before,  however,  the  conversation  occurred  which 
was  blessed  to  this  pastor,  another  had  arisen  out  of 
the  inquiry,  what  was  to  be  his  text  on  the  next 
Lord's  day,  and  in  what  manner  he  intended  to  treat 
his  subject.  The  pastor  relates,  that  Mr.  Haldane 
asked  him  how  he  could  reconcile  his  religious  senti- 
ments with  a  text  which  he  pointed  out  with  his  fin- 
ger. "  I  replied,^'  says  the  pastor,  "  that  this  was  an 
isolated  and  extraordinary  text.  Mr.  Haldane  then 
showed  me  another  equally  embarrassing,  and  turning 
over  his  Bible,  pointed  with  the  same  index  to  fifteen 
or  twenty  passages,  all  directly  contradicting  what  I 
was  going  to  preach.  Not  only  was  I  confused  at  not 
being  able  to  prove  my  doctrine  from  my  Bible,  but 
I  was  astonished  at  the  great  facility  with  which  Mr. 
Haldane  found  the  passages  he  wanted.  When  I  left 
him  I  could  not  help  thinking  that  perhaps  my  argu- 
ments were  right,  but  that,  at  all  events,  Mr.  Hal- 
dane's  seemed  to  be  drawn  from  the  Bible,  and  I  felt 
that  I  had  too  little  studied  the  Scripture,  and  had  a 
very  imperfect  knowledge  of  its  contents.  This  made 
me  lose  confidence  in  myself,  but  I  did  not  let  him 
know  my  distrust.  When  I  next  conversed  with  him, 
he  proposed  to  take  a  walk  into  the  country."         .  ^ 

We  will  now  transcribe  from  Mr.  Haldane  him- 
self. 

"  We  immediately  entered  into  a  discussion  respect- 


^ 


ROBERT,  AT  MONTAUBAN.  233 

ing  the  gospel,  each  of  us  maintaining  his  own  senti- 
ments on  the  subject.  At  length  I  began  to  speak  to 
him  on  that  all-important  declaration  of  our  Lord  on 
the  cross,  'It  is  finished,^  and  endeavored  to  show  from 
that  expression,  that  every  thing  necessary  for  a  sin- 
ner's acceptance  with  God  was  already  accomplished, 
and  that  Christ  is  the  end,  the  'finishing,'  or  accom- 
plishment of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  every  one 
that  believeth.  I  had  spoken  but  a  few  minutes  when 
it  pleased  God,  in  infinite  goodness  and  compassion, 
to  shine  into  his  heart,  to  give  him  the  light  of  the 
knowledge  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  He 
suddenly  stopped,  and  with  extended  arms,  vehe- 
mently exclaimed,  'It  is  too  great  to  be  true  J  From 
that  moment  there  was  no  more  diff'erence  of  opinion 
between  us — ^no  farther  opposition  on  his  part — ^no 
more  objections.  In  Christ  he  was  a  new  creature. 
Old  things  had  in  a  moment  passed  away ;  behold,  all 
things  had  become  new.  It  was  now  all  his  desire  to 
hear  more  of  the  great  salvation.  We  returned  to 
town  holding  the  most  delightful  communion.  He 
remarked  with  earnestness  how  differently  he  would 
preach  when  he  should  return  to  his  flock.  He  con- 
fessed, at  the  same  time,  that  he  had  often  preached 
on  texts  in  which  there  was  something  he  had  not 
fathomed,  and  that  he  now  knew  what  it  was.  This 
is  worthy  of  notice,  as  it  shows  the  unsatisfactory 
state  of  mind  of  many,  who  professing  to  preach  the 
gospel,  understand  neither  what  they  say,  nor  whereof 
they  afi&rm.  He  said  he  wondered  that  his  people 
should  have  had  patience  to  listen  to  such  a  system 


234  THE  HALDANES. 

as  he  had  been  endeavoring  for  seven  years  to  incul- 
cate upon  them — so  totally  different  from  the  doctrine 
of  the  grace  of  God.  When  we  parted,  he  who  an 
hour  before  hated  and  opposed  the  doctrine  of  salva- 
tion, was  filled  with  peace  and  joy  in  believing. 

"  This  happened  on  Friday  evening.  Next  morn- 
ing he  called  on  me  in  the  state  of  mind  I  had  left 
him  in  the  evening  before,  rejoicing  in  the  grace  of 
God ;  but  he  said  that  after  we  parted,  being  engaged 
to  preach  on  the  Lord's  day,  he  read  the  sermon  he 
had  prepared,  and  found  that  not  one  sentence  of  it 
could  he  preach,  for  it  was  altogether  opposed  to 
what  he  was  now  convinced  was  the  truth  of  the  gos- 
pel. He  added,  that  he  did  not  know  what  he  should 
do,  for  that  sermon,  the  only  one  he  had  with  him, 
and  which  he  had  admired,  being,  as  he  thought,  so 
well  composed,  he  could  not  and  would  not  on  any 
account  make  use  of,  and  that  he  was  not  accustomed 
to  preach  extempore.  I  replied,  that  I  never  knew 
a  case  so  similar  to  his  as  that  of  the  jailor  at  Phi- 
lippi,  and  therefore  advised  him  to  preach  on  his 
question  to  the  apostle,  and  the  answer  he  received : 
'What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?  Believe  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved.'  After  paus- 
ing a  few  moments,  he  said  he  would  do  so.  The 
place  where  he  preached  was  at  some  distance  in  the 
country;  I  did  not  therefore  hear  him,  but  was  in- 
formed that  the  people  who  had  known  him  before, 
listened  with  astonishment,  wondering  that  he  now 
preached  the  faith  which  so  lately  he  sought  to  de- 
stroy.   He  spoke  with  great  feeling  and  power,  and 


ROBERT,  AT  MONTAUBAN.  235 

what  he  said  made  a  deep  impression  on  those  who 
heard  him.  I  had  afterwards,  during  the  short  time 
he  remained  at  Montauban,  most  agreeable  conversa- 
tions with  him,  and  shall  never  forget  his  prayer 
when  we  parted.  It  was  one  of  the  most  affecting  I 
ever  heard — evidently  the  warm  effusion  of  his  heart — • 
entirely  different  from  one  of  those  written  and  stud- 
ied prayers  which  many  of  the  French  pastors  pre- 
pare before  they  deliver  them.  He  referred  in  a  very 
striking  manner  to  his  conversion,  and  to  his  former 
and  present  state;  confessed  the  great  sinfulness  of 
the  past  part  of  his  ministry,  and  prayed  earnestly 
for  himself  and  his  flock. 

"  On  his  return  home,  he  passed  through  a  town, 
where  he  preached  the  same  sermon  as  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Montauban.  It  came  closer  on  the  con- 
sciences of  his  hearers  than  the  discourses  to  which 
they  had  been  accustomed  to  listen.  One  of  the  pas- 
tors of  the  church  preached  the  gospel,  but  with  less 
force.  A  flame  was  instantly  kindled  among  them. 
The  elders  of  the  consistory  remonstrated  with  their 
own  pastor  in  the  strongest  manner,  demanding  of 
him  how  he  could  have  allowed  a  man  bringing  such 
doctrines  to  preach  for  him.  He  declared  that  these 
doctrines  were  the  same  that  he  himself  preached. 
They  denied  this  most  peremptorily ;  and  the  discov- 
ery was  now  made  that  some  of  them  were  Socinians. 
They  threatened  to  denounce  their  pastor  to  the  gov- 
ernment, and  during  more  than  three  months  the 
greatest  agitation  prevailed  in  his  church.  I  saw 
several  letters  which  in  the  course  of  that  time  he 


236  THE  HALDANES. 

wrote  to  Ms  friends  at  Montauban,  declaring  his 
apprehensions  that  it  would  terminate  in  his  being 
expelled  from  his  charge.  At  length,  however,  the 
storm  subsided,  and  the  preaching  of  the  pastor  from 
the  neighborhood  of  Marseilles  appeared  to  have  done 
good. 

"A  very  different  feeling  was  excited  when  an 
account  of  his  conversion  was  given  to  his  father,  a 
man  above  eighty  years  of  age.  I  afterwards  saw 
another  pastor^  who  happened  to  be  at  his  house  on  a 
visit.  It  was  truly  affecting,  he  said,  to  see  the  old 
man  quite  absorbed  in  the  subject,  and  for  several 
days  going  about  his  house,  clapping  his  hands,  and 
joyfully  exclaiming,  '  It  is  finished.' " 

A  well-known  French  minister,  who  afterwards 
spent  much  time  in  England,  wrote  to  Eobert  Hal- 
dane,  in  1825,  to  tell  him  how  the  pastor  just  referred 
to  had  become,  in  the  hands  of  God,  the  means  of 
awakening  him  from  spiritual  death.  After  describ- 
ing himself  as  having  been  a  blind  man  leading  the 

blind,  till  the  year  1822,  M.  A proceeded:  "At 

the  above  period  I  went  to  visit  my  former  flock  at 

,  where  I  saw,  after  nine  years  of  separation,  one 

of  your  spiritual  children,  my  old  fellow-student.  He 
became,  in  the  hand  of  God,  the  instrument  of  my  de- 
liverance. I  then  learned  the  '  great  mystery  of  god- 
liness,' '  God  manifest  in  the  flesh  f  and  transported 
out  of  myself  by  the  joy  of  my  salvation,  I  returned 
to  my  church,  where  since  then  the  Lord  has  given 
me  grace  to  render  testimony  to  him,  and  to  advance 
a  little,  but  very  little,  in  the  knowledge  of  him." 


ROBERT,  AT  MONTAUBAN.  23t 

If  there  was  less  of  excitement  and  ^clat  in  Rab^ 
ert  Haldane's  labors  at  Montauban  than  at  Geneva, 
the  work  of  evangelization  yet  prospered  •  his  Chris- 
tian friends  acquired  renewed  confidence,  many  stu- 
dents and  young  ministers  were  delivered  from  error, 
and  the  seed  was  sown  of  an  abundant  harvest  in 
France.  Nor  did  the  work  meet  with  so  much  direct 
opposition  and  persecution  as  in  Geneva,  for  De  Yil- 
lele's  government  shielded  the  Protestants  from  vio- 
lence and  Mr.  Haldane  from  expulsion. 

But  domestic  circumstances  called  the  missionary 
and  his  family  home.  His  wife's  father  was  drawing 
near  to  death,  and  the  separation  from  his  daughter 
had  been  prolonged  far  beyond  all  calculation.  In 
the  hope  of  again  visiting  Montauban,  which  hope, 
however,  was  never  realized,  they  left  for  Edinburgh. 
Their  journey  to  Paris  was  made  doubly  pleasant  by 
the  society  of  M.  Bonnard,  the  venerable  dean  of  the 
Faculty  of  Theology,  the  recollection  of  whose  faith 
and  affectionate  simplicity  of  heart  was  always  cher- 
ished. 

Many  testimonies  have  since  been  borne  to  the 
usefulness  of  Robert  Haldane,  both  at  Geneva  and 
Montauban.  In  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Free 
church  of  Scotland,  the  Rev.  Frederic  Monod  of 
Paris,  and  Dr.  Merle  d'Aubign6  of  Geneva,  as  well  as 
other  eminent  foreign  ministers,  have  testified  to  the 
blessings  which  resulted  from  his  labors.  During  the 
meetings  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance  in  London,  in 
1851,  one  speaker  was  recommending  the  Foreign 
Aid  Society,  because  it  only  employed  Swiss  and 


A- 


238  THE  HALDANES. 

French  preachers,  and  did  not  send  out  Englishmen,  ^ 
when  Dr.  Merle  d'Aubign^  said,  that  he  for  one  could?" 
not  accept  this  as  a  recommendation,  for  had  it  not  ^* 
been  for  the  grace  of  God  in  ordering  the  mission  of 
the  venerable  Robert  Haldane  from  Scotland,  "  I  my- 
self, so  far  as  man  can  see,  would  not  have  been  here 
to-day.'' 

On  his  return  to  Scotland,  Robert  Haldane  r^ 
sumed  his  former  activity.  He  placed  ten  young  men 
under  the  care  of  a  venerable  minister  to  be  prepared 
for  home  missionary  labors,  employed  all  the  means 
in  his  power  to  extend  the  gospel  on  the  Continent, 
in  aid  of  which  he  organized  an  auxiliary  society  at  \. 
Edinburgh,  and  renewed  his  labors  in  visiting  pris-  ' 
oners  in  jail  under  the  sentence  of  death. 

Our  narrative  has  applied  for  many  of  its  last '' 
pages  to  the  labors  of  Robert  Haldane.  We  must 
now  turn  again  to  those  of  his  brother  James.  He 
was  found,  on  the  return  of  Robert,  to  be  still  holding 
on  the  even  tenor  of  his  way,  neither  elevated  by  the 
excitement  of  popularity,  nor  depressed  by  the  want  '' 
of  cooperation.  He  had  still  many  seals  to  his  min- 
istry, so  that  he  wrote  to  his  friend  Campbell,  in  1809, 
"We  were  told  that  'the  world'  would  leave  us,  that 
no  good  would  be  done,  and  that  there  would  be  an 
end  of  usefulness.  But  numbers  still  attend,  and 
we  have  received  more  converts  from  'the  world' 
than  for  four  years  previously."  Dr.  Andrew  Thom- 
son, who  had  one  of  the  largest  parishes  in  Edin- 
burgh, said,  that  in  examining  candidates  for  admis- 


JAMES,  IN  EDINBURGH.  239 

sion  to  his  half-yearly  communions,  lie  found  a  greater 
number  of  instances  of  awakening  attributed  to  the 
preaching  of  James  Haldane  than  to  that  of  any  other 
preacher  in  the  city.  The  same  testimony  was  borne 
by  others ;  and  a  venerable  minister  in  England,  who 
visited  Scotland,  stated  that  in  a  conversation  with 
Dr.  M'Crie,  the  celebrated  historian  of  John  Knox,  he 
observed  that  in  his  opinion  James  Haldane  preached 
the  doctrine  of  free  justification  more  fully  and  more 
clearly  than  any  other  minister  he  knew.  Nor  was 
this  surprising,  when  we  see  the  devotion  which  mark- 
ed his  character.  Writing  about  this  time  to  a  friend, 
he  says,  "I  do  not  see  any  thing  which  I  can  do, 
unless  it  be  to  live  near  to  God,  and  to  preach  his 
gospel  where  I  am  placed  in  the  course  of  his  provi- 
dence." Hence  he  was  ''instant  in  season"  and  "out 
of  season,"  always  at  his  post,  and  never  dreaming 
of  rest  till  he  descended  to  his  grave.  He  was  sel- 
dom absent  from  his  own  church,  but  he  occasion- 
ally preached  to  the  sailors  in  the  floating  chapel  at 
Leith,  where  his  sermons,  as  coming  from  an  old  sea- 
man, were  always  welcomed  by  his  attentive  hearers. 
There  is  in  the  use  of  Scripture  language,  in 
preaching,  a  striking  illustration  of  the  spirit  and 
true  character  of  the  minister.  Just  about  the  time 
when  the  Haldanes  were  rousing  all  Scotland  to  relig- 
ious feeling  by  their  energetic  use  of  the  Bible,  and 
Eowland  Hill  and  Andrew  Fuller,  and  some  others, 
were  doing  the  same  work  in  England,  we  find  the 
witty  Sidney  Smith,  a  canon  of  St.  Pauls,  in  the  Eng- 
lish metropolis,  saying,  "  There  is  a  bad  taste  in  the 


240  THE  HALDANES. 

language  of  sermons,  evinced  by  the  constant  repeti- 
tion of  the  same  scriptural  phrases,  which  perhaps 
were  used  with  great  judgment  two  hundred  years 
ago,  but  are  now  become  so  trite  that  they  may,  with- 
out any  great  detriment,  be  exchanged  for  others: 
^  Putting  off  the  old  man,'  and  '  putting  on  the  new 
man ;'  '  One  thing  is  needful,'  '  The  armor  of  right- 
eousness,' etc."  This  poor  man  would  have  nothing 
said  to  give  offence  to  the  mawkish  delicacy  of  his 
hearers  or  to  their  polite  religion.  It  has  been  well 
remarked,  that  words  are  things,  and  it  is  assuredly 
true  when  applied  to  "the  words  which  the  Holy 
Ghost  teacheth;"  for  they  resemble  "a  twoedged 
sword,  piercing  even  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  soul 
and  spirit,  and  of  the  joints  and  marrow."  We  do 
not  recollect,  in  the  whole  course  of  our  observation 
and  reading,  a  single  minister  eminent  in  the  work  of 
the  conversion  of  sinners  who  did  not  deal  much  in 
the  use  of  scriptural  language.  The  Holy  Spirit  gen- 
erally works  by  the  instrumentality  of  his  own  words. 
Aversion  to  scripture  language  is,  generally  speaking, 
aversion  to  scripture  truths. 

At  the  end  of  1819,  the  last  surviving  sister  of 
James  Haldane's  mother  died,  his  attention  to  whom 
furnished  a  very  pleasing  illustration  of  his  domestic ' 
character.  During  the  last  weeks  of  her  life,  besides 
his  morning  visits,  whatever  were  his  engagements, 
and  however  late  he  might  be  occupied  by  prayer- 
meetings,  church-meetings,  or  preaching,  he  never 
failed  to  walk  to  her  house,  that  he  might  pray  by 
her  bedside,  and  comfort  her  with  some  of  the  pre-. 


ROBERT,  AT  AUCHINGRAY.  241 

cious  promises  of  the  gospel.  In  all  his  private  en- 
gagements of  this  character,  he  exhibited  one  of  the 
brightest  examples  known  to  his  friends  of  that  pure 
and  undefiled  religion  which  visits  the  widow  and  the 
fatherless,  and  keeps  itself  unspotted  from  the  world. 
The  more  closely  his  walk  was  observed,  the  more 
was  it  seen  that  his  "  steps  were  ordered  of  the  Lord." 
Rather  mare  than  three  years  after  the  death  of  his 
first  wife,  James  Haldane  formed  a  second  union  of 
this  character.  The  lady  of  his  choice  was  a  cousin- 
german  of  the  distinguished  Sir  Walter  Scott.  The 
union  was  one  productive  of  great  mutual  happiness 
till  dissolved  by  his  death. 

We  now  turn  again  to  Robert  Haldane,  who  was 
still  employed  iri  opposing  error,  and  guiding  men, 
especially  through  the  medium  of  the  press,  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth.  His  winters  and  summers 
were  usually  divided  between  his  town-house  in  Edin- 
burgh, and  his  country  residence  at  Auchingray. 
When  in  Edinburgh,  he  never  allowed  any  matter 
connected  with  the  management  of  his  estate  to  ab- 
sorb his  attention,  if  it  could  be  avoided  or  postponed. 
When  at  Auchingray,  his  mornings  were  devoted  to 
prayer,  the  study  of  the  Scriptures,  and  the  prepara- 
tion of  his  work,  and  the  latter  part  of  the  day  was 
occupied,  both  before  and  after  dinner,  which  was  at 
five  o'clock,  with  matters  relating  to  his  tenants,  his 
plantations,  and  other  country  business.  His  even- 
ings, after  eight  o'clock,  were  spent  in  the  drawing- 
room,  where  he  usually  sat  in  a  large  chair,  with  a 
small  table  by  his  side^  and  a  newspaper  or  book  in 

Hald&oes.  IX 

.0^  'f*'     ' 


242  THE  HALDANES. 

liis  hand,  so  that  he  could  either  read,  listen,  or  con- 
verse at  his  pleasure.  Few  persons  could  be  more 
agreeable,  or  even  fascinating,  when  he  found  himself 
in  congenial  society.  The  urbanity  of  his  manners 
gave  little  indication  of  the  sternness  with  which  he 
confronted  error ;  and  when  he  was  in  company  with 
those  whose  character  and  information  he  valued,  his 
flow  of  conversation  was  easy,  graceful,  and  instruct- 
ive. He  could  speak  of  the  ordinary  topics  of  the 
-  day,  its  politics,  its  remarkable  occurrences,  and  its 
prospects,  but  he  never  descended  to  that  which  was 
idle  and  frivolous.  He  had  a  good  memory,  and  a 
great  fund  of  anecdote  connected  with  his  own  times, 
the  eminent  persons  he  had  known,  the  scenes  which 
he  had  witnessed,  and  the  generation  which  was  pass- 
ing away.  But  on  the  great  truths  of  the  gospel,  and 
the  things  pertaining  to  the  progress  of  the  kingdom 
of  God,  both  Robert  and  James  Haldane  chiefly  de- 
lighted to  dwell.  On  these  matters  their  conversa- 
tion was  cheerful,  animated,  and  always  tended  to 
edification.  There  was  no  constraint,  no  conventional 
talk  about  religion,  nor  merely  sanctimonious  phrase- 
ology. All  was  the  utterance  of  the  heart,  and  the 
expression  of  real  feeling.  Never  did  either  of  them 
approach  to  that  pharisaic  style  of  communication 
which  chills  the  heart  of  the  humble  Christian,  and 
repels  the  man  of  the  world. 

Few  men  could  more  tenderly  sympathize  in  the 
afflictions  of  friends,  or  more  wisely  draw  lessons  from 
their  trials,  than  James  Haldane.  In  1826,  a  venera- 
ble Christian  minister,  the  author  of  an  excellent  vol- 


JAMES,  DEATH  OF  A  SON.  243 

ume  on  "  Spiritual  Comfort,"  was  sorely  exercised  by 
an  unhappy  dissension  in  his  church.  On  this  subject 
Mr.  Haldane  thus  wisely  wrote :  "  It  is  a  pity  that 
in  the  doctor's  old  age  such  a  dispute  should  have 
arisen,  but  I  hardly  ever  saw  it  fail,  when  people 
looked  up  in  an  extraordinary  degree  to  a  minister, 
as  I  believe  his  congregation  did  to  him,  that  some- 
thing arose  to  sweep  away  their  idolatrous  attach- 
ment. I  have  frequently  seen  the  same  thing  in  indi- 
vidual members  of  our  church  j  so  much  so,  that  now 
I  never  see  any  person  who  appears  peculiarly  ardent 
in  expressions  of  admiration,  but  I  lay  my  account 
that  a  complete  revolution  will  erelong  take  place. 
It  is  the  purpose  of  God  to  stain  the  pride  of  human 
glory,  and  his  purpose  shall  stand.  The  nearer  we 
live  to  Him,  the  more  we  are  engaged  in  contemplat- 
ing his  glory,  his  love,  and  his  grace  to  us,  the  more 
willing  shall  we  be  that  He  alone  should  be  exalted ; 
and  as  He  is  infinitely  exalted  above  all  created 
objects,  so  the  happiness  of  the  whole  obedient  and 
intelligent  creation  will  arise  and  continue  through 
eternity  in  beholding  his  glory.  Did  we  perceive 
more  of  it,  it  would  hide  pride  from  our  eyes ;  but 
as  when  the  sun  is  withdrawn  the  stars  are  bright, 
so  if  our  minds  are  turned  away  from  God,  we  hold 
ourselves  and  the  persons  of  our  fellow-creatures  in 
admiration,  because  of  some  real  or  supposed  advan- 
tage over  others." 

The  beginning  of  the  year  1831  was  to  James 
Haldane  greatly  saddened  by  the  death  of  his  eldest 
son  James,  a  young  man  whose  vigorous  constitution 


244  THE  HALDANES. 

but  a  little  while  before  promised  a  long  continuance 
of  life  and  health.  His  end  was  peace ;  and  though 
he  was  unable  to  speak  much,  he  told  his  father  that 
he  had  full  confidence  in  Jesus,  and  entertained  no 
fear  of  death. 

As  must  have  been  expected,  at  this  time  also  the 
old  friends  of  the  brothers  Haldane  began  to  be  taken 
from  their  labors  to  their  gracious  reward.  Mr.  Aik- 
man  was  the  first  removed  of  those  who  in  1797  went 
out  into  the  highways  and  hedges  of  Scotland,  to 
invite  men  to  the  feast  of  the  gospel.  Dr.  Stuart,  of 
whom  we  have  more  than  once  spoken,  was  suddenly 
called  from  time  to  eternity.  In  October,  1832, 
James  Haldane  wrote  thus  of  the  removal  of  the 
Hev.  "William  Howels,  an  excellent  Episcopal  minis- 
ter of  London :  "  Mr.  Howels'  death  will  make  a  great 
blank,  but  the  Lord  liveth,  and  is  carrying  on  his 
eternal  purpose,  and  every  thing,  little  or  great,  is 
subservient  to  its  accomplishment.  Humanly  speak- 
ing, however,  the  death  of  an  influential  man,  who 
opposed  the  heresies  and  errors  of  the  day  so  stead- 
ily, is  a  great  loss."  And  in  the  April  following, 
the  venerable  Rowland  Hill,  who  it  was  believed  by 
many,  during  a  ministry  of  far  more  than  sixty  years, 
brought,  under  God,  more  sinners  to  Christ  than  any 
other  man  of  his  day,  passed  to  heaven.  "  Rowland 
Hill,"  says  James  Haldane,  "has  finished  his  course. 
His  life  has  been  very  long,  and  he  has  maintained  a 
most  consistent  character.  Every  thing  here  is  fleet- 
ing and  transitory." 


ROBERT,  ON  THE  EYIDENCES.      245 


CHAPTER  XII. 

FROM  THE  PUBLICATION  OF  MR.  ROBERT  HAL- 
DANE'S  SECOND  EDITION  OF  THE  EVIDENCES 
OF  CHRISTIANITY,  TILL  HIS  DEATH. 

'    '  .      .  1834  TO   1842. 

It  was  a  striking  feature  in  the  character  of  Rob- 
ert Haldane,  that  he  seldom  did  any  thing  in  haste, 
and  never  attempted  to  accomplish  two  objects  at  the 
same  time.  This  was  the  more  remarkable  on  account 
of  the  energy  with  which  he  pursued  any  design  on 
which  he  had  fully  decided.  Whatever  he  set  himself 
to  do,  he  did  it  with  his  might.  We  have  seen  that 
so  early  as  1816  he  published  the  first  edition  of  his 
"Evidences  of  Christianity;''  a  second  edition  had 
long  been  called  for,  but  his  other  engagements  did 
not  allow  him  to  prepare.it  for  the  press  till  1834. 

When  Robert  Haldane  first  sat  down  to  write  on 
this  great  subject,  he  carefully  reread  some  of  the 
most  distinguished  infidel  publications,  especially  Da- 
vid Hume's  "  Moral  Essays,"  and  the  sceptical  chap- 
ters in  Gibbon's  celebrated  History ;  and  striking 
indeed  are  his  exhibitions  of  their  self-contradictions. 
tie  singles  out  Hume  as  an  example  of  the  folly  of 
pushing  reason  beyond  its  legitimate  province,  and 
preferring  the  glimmer  of  its  dubious  ray  to  the  pure 
and  steady  light  of  revelation.  "  The  whole,"  says 
Hume,  "is  a  riddle,  an  enigma,  an  inexplicable  mys- 
tery.    Doubt,  uncertainty,  suspense  of  judgment,  ap- 


246  THE  HALDANES. 

pear  the  only  result  of  our  most  accurate  scrutiny 
concerning  this  subject.^'  Hume's  friends  had  delight- 
ed to  represent  their  philosopher  as  "treading  the 
common  road  into  the  great  darkness,"  not  only  with- 
out fear,  but  with  gayety.  This  was  the  testimony  of 
Dr.  Adam  Smith,  the  author  of  the  "  Theory  of  Moral 
Sentiments,"  who  also  considered  Hume  "  as  approach- 
ing as  nearly  to  the  idea  of  a  perfectly  wise  and  vir- 
tuous man  as  perhaps  the  nature  of  human  frailty 
will  admit."  When  Adam  Smith  thus  wrote,  he 
knew  that  Hume  had  published  an  essay  vindicating 
suicide,  and  that  in  the  correspondence  published 
after  his  death,  he  justifies  and  even  commends  adul- 
tery. Had  the  picture  drawn  of  the  last  days  of  the 
philosopher  been  a  true  one,  it  would  yet  have  been 
truly  melancholy ;  and  after  all,  it  could  have  been  of 
small  importance  to  know  how  an  unbeliever  could 
die ;  but  more  than  a  little  doubt  has  been  thrown  on 
the  representations  of  it.  The  details  are  worthy  of 
preservation. 

In  the  year  1776,  soon  after  Hume's  death,  Mr. 
Abercromby,  a  friend  of  Robert  Haldane,  was  trav- 
elling to  Haddington  with  two  other  friends  in  one 
of  the  old-fashioned  stage-coaches.  The  conversation 
during  the  tedious  journey  turned  on  the  death-bed  of 
the  great  philosopher,  and  as  Mr.  Abercromby's  son- 
in-law,  Colonel  Edmonstone  of  Newton,  was  one  of 
Hume's  intimate  friends,  he  had  heard  from  him  much 
of  the  buoyant  cheerfulness  which  had  enlivened  the 
sick-room  of  the  dying  man.  While  the  conversation 
was  going  on  in  this  strain,  a  respectable-looking 


ROBERT,  ON  THE  ROMANS.  24t 

female,  dressed  in  black,  who  made  a  fourth  in  the 
coach,  begged  permission  to  offer  a  remark.  "  Gen- 
tlemen," she  said,  "I  attended  Mr.  Hume  on  his 
death-bed,  but  I  can  assure  you,  I  hope  never  again 
to  attend  the  death-bed  of  a  philosopher. ''^  They  then 
cross-examined  her  as  to  her  meaning,  and  she  told 
them,  that  when  his  friends  were  with  him,  Mr.  Hume 
was  cheerful  even  to  frivolity ;  but  that  when  alone 
he  was  often  overwhelmed  with  unutterable  gloom, 
and  had,  in  his  hours  of  depression,  declared  that  he 
had  been  in  search  of  light  all  his  life,  but  was  now  in 
greater  darkness  than  ever.  These  facts  have  been 
given  by  several  of  the  travellers  on  that  occasion. 

The  second  edition  of  "The  Evidences"  having 
been  issued,  Mr.  Haldane  directed  all  his  energies  to 
the  completion  of  his  "  Exposition  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Romans,"  of  which  we  have  already  spoken. 

In  the  summer  of  1840,  James  Haldane  visited  his 
brother  Robert,  whose  health  was  obviously  declin- 
ing, though  the  vigor  of  his  mind  was  not  abated,  nor 
did  his  sight,  his  hearing,  or  the  elasticity  of  his  spir- 
its evince  any  symptom  of  the  common  infirmities  of 
age.  His  occupations  were  pursued  as  in  former 
year?,  except  that  he  did  not  preach  on  the  Lord's 
day.  In  the  morning,  when  the  family  assembled,  he 
read  the  Scriptures  and  prayed.  When  his  brother 
was  with  him,  one  usually  prayed  in  the  morning  and 
the  other  in  the  evening.  At  breakfast-time  he  was 
cheerful  and  full  of  animation.  Being  no  longer  able 
to  encounter  the  same  amount  of  fatigue  as  formerly, 
the  time  spent  in  his  own  room  was  now  prolonged 


% 


248  THE  HALDANES. 

till  tliree  o'clock,  or  even  later.  Much  of  that  inter- 
val was  devoted  to  conversation  on  the  great  doc- 
trines of  the  gospel,  more  especially  with  reference  to 
the  final  revision  of  his  "Exposition."  He  never 
himself  appeared  at  luncheon,  or  required  any  refresh^ 
ment  between  breakfast  and  dinner.  About  three 
o'clock  he  generally  took  a  walk,  when  he  talked 
without  reserve  on  the  various  topics  which  arose  :  it 
seemed,  however,  as  though  he  always  felt  that  time 
was  passing  away,  and  his  communications  increased 
in  interest,  touching  on  the  workings  of  his  mind,  his 
religious  experience,  and  the  eventful  career  of  his 
brother  and  himself.  At  dinner  he  was  affable,  and 
even  playful,  but  he  never  sat  long  at  table.  Before 
tea  he  would  generally  walk  out  again,  and  enliven 
his  conversation  by  anecdotes  of  past  times,  and  of 
the  persons  with  whom  from  boyhood  he  had  come 
into  contact.  At  an  earlier  period,  when  in  vigorous 
health,  and  even  so  late  as  1839,  he  would  often  take 
long  walks  with  his  grandchildren,  and  his  younger 
nephews  and  neices,  or  encourage  them  in  their  amuse- 
ments by  his  playfulness  and  good-humor.  He  was 
at  all  times  fond  of  children,  and  with  them  would 
still  exhibit  his  early  love  of  practical  jokes.  At 
eight  o'clock  the  table  was  spread  in  the  drawing- 
room,  arid  after  this  social  repast  the  servants  assem- 
bled for  evening  prayers. 

When  this  solemn  but  simple  service  was  over, 
Robert  Haldane  would  retire  to  his  own  room,  that 
his  conversation  with  his  endeared  brother  on  the 
subjects  which  chiefly  occupied  his  thoughts  might 


ROBERT,  AT  AUCHINGRAY.  249 

not  be  interrupted  by  desultory  talk.  These  conver- 
sations, often  prolonged  beyond  midnight,  were  in- 
tensely interesting,  and  the  rather  so  because  it  was 
impossible  not  to  feel  that  they  were  fast  drawing 
to  an  end.  They  were  concluded  by  prayer,  simple, 
affectionate,  and  earnest,  breathing  the  spirit  of  adop- 
tion, and  calling  down  the  divine  blessing  upon  his 
relative,  for  whom  he  prayed  that  the  Lord  would 
give  him  to  .fight  the  good  fight  of  faith,  and  enable 
him  to  endure  to  the  end.  Those  who  regarded  Rob- 
ert Haldane  merely  as  a  controversialist,  little  knew 
the  depth  of  his  benevolence,  or  the  settled  peace  and 
joy  which  he  derived  from  the  personal  and  uncloud- 
ed appropriation  of  the  doctrines  of  which  he  was  so 
earnest  and  powerful  a  champion.  Thus  passed  away 
the  summer  and  autumn  of  1840,  and  a  part  of  1841. 
.'  During  the  years  when  Robert  Haldane  was 
accustomed  on  the  Lord's  day  to  preach  at  Auchin- 
gray,  for  the  convenience  of  the  people  he  followed 
the  Scottish  country  practice  of  connecting  two  ser- 
vices into  one.  The  whole  lasted  from  twelve  o'clock 
till  three,  and  the  two  sermons  were  only  divided  by 
the  interval  of  a  psalm,  a  prayer,  and  a  second  psalm. 
This  was  necessarily  fatiguing,  but  the  avidity  with 
which  the  country  people  flocked  to  hear,  and  the 
tokens  of  their  blessed  effects,  rendered  him  unwilling 
to  leave  them  off.  Every  Saturday  evening,  at  fam- 
ily worship,  he  had  been  wont  to  pray  that  many 
might  come  to  hear,  and  that  a  blessing  might  attend 
the  preaching  of  the  word.  Seldom  probably  have 
such  sermons  been  preached  in  such  a  place  •  but  they 

11* 


250  THE  HALDANES. 

were  appreciated,  and  many  actually  travelled  twenty 
miles  or  more  for  the  purpose  of  attending.  They 
cost  much  preparation,  and  even  the  scanty  notes 
which  remain  indicate  that  they  were  worthy  of  the 
author  of  the  Exposition  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Ro- 
mans. Auchingray  presented  a  beautiful  sight  on  a^ 
Sunday  when  the  country  people  came  to  the  place 
of  his  preaching,  across  the  hills  in  the  direction  of 
Shotts,  or  through  the  moorland  and  plantations  tow- 
ards Slamannan,  most  of  them  on  foot,  but  some  in 
their  carts  or  on  horseback,  the  women  with  red 
cloaks,  and  the  men  with  blue  bonnets.  ,  There  was  a 
gravity  and  respectability  in  their  appearance  which 
recalled  the  recollection  of  the  old  Covenanters  of 
the  west  of  Scotland,  of  whom  they  were  in  fact  the 
descendants. 

There  was  no  church  near  the  house  of  Auchin- 
gray. The  post-town  of  Airdrie  was  more  than  six 
miles  distant;  the  parish  church  of  Slamannan  was 
not  much  nearer;  nor  the  kirk  of  Shotts,  so  famous 
for  the  extraordinary  revival  following  the  remarka- 
ble sermons  of  the  celebrated  Mr.  Livingston,  two 
hundred  years  ago.  Several  of  the  neighboring  min- 
isters were  far  from  regarding  these  services  as  an 
intrusion,  but  an  anecdote  is  told  of  a  minister  several 
miles  off,  who  asked  one  of  his  parishioners,  in  a  com- 
plaining tone,  what  Mr.  Haldane  preached,  that  took 
away  so  many  of  the  people  to  hear  him.  With  greater 
frankness  than  regard  for  his  minister's  feelings,  the 
cottager  replied,  "  'Deed,  sir,  I  'm  thinking  it's  just  the 
contrary  to  your  preaching."    The  object  of  Robert 


ROBERTAS  LAST  DAYS  251 

Haldane  was  not  the  formation  of  a  separate  churcli, 
but  only  to  preach  the  gospel  to  those  who  would  not 
otherwise  hear  it. 

In  December,  1841,  Robert  Haldane  left  Auchin- 
gray,  and  for  the  last  time  arrived  in  Edinburgh,  and 
not  long  after  was  compelled  to  abandon  the  literary 
works  which  had  so  long  occupied  his  attention.  In 
August,  1842,  he  was  evidently  sinking  in  bodily 
strength,  though  the  clear  light  of  his  masculine  in- 
tellect was  as  unclouded,  and  his  mental  energies  as 
active  as  ever.  He  discussed  matters  of  business 
relating  to  his  own  affairs  and  his  family  with  all  his 
usual  shrewdness,  and  kindled  into  admiration  as  he 
spoke  of  the  integrity  of  the  Bible,  its  plenary  inspi- 
ration, and  the  importance  of  maintaining  the  purity 
of  its  doctrines.  On  Saturday  evening  the  twenty- 
seventh  of  August,  he  was  very  unwell,  and  the  doc- 
tor was  sent  for.  Shortly  afterwards,  in  a  private 
interview  with  his  physician,  Mr.  Haldane  requested 
him  to  say  plainly  what  he  thought  of  the  prospect  of 
his  recovery.  The  doctor  replied,  "  Mr.  Haldane,  you 
are  a  man  of  firm  mind,  and  not  afraid  of  death.  I 
have,  therefore,  no  fear  of  alarming  you  when  I  say 
that  it  looks  like  a  last  illness," 

"Next  day,"  says  his  nephew  and  biographer, 
"after  hearing  Dr.  Candlish  preach,  I  went  to  see 
him,  and  found  him  in  bed,  with  his  old  Bible  beside 
him,  the  same  which  he  had  used  at  Geneva,  and  which 
Dr.  Malan  described  as  then  literally  worn  out  by  fre- 
quent reference.  He  had  told  no  one  of  the  doctor's 
announcement)  and  he  did  not  notice  it  now ;  but  his 


252  THE  HALDANES. 

manjier  was  grave,  and  his  countenance  evinced  tlie 
intensity  of  his  self-searching  meditations.  He  began 
at  once :  '  I  have  been  thinking  of  our  Lord's  words 
to  his  disciples  in  his  last  discourse,  John  14 :  21-23, 
*  He  that  hath  my  commandments  and  keepeth  them, 
he  it  is  that  loveth  me,'  etc.,  and  the  parallel  passage, 
Eev.  3 :  20,  '  Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door,  and  knock  r 
if  any  man  hear  my  voice,  and  open  the  door,  I  will 
come  in  to  him,  and  will  sup  witji  him,  and  he  with 
me.'  Now,  I  have  been  asking  myselfj  what  must  my 
answer  be,  if  tried  by  this  test.  Have  I  kept  his 
commandments — ^have  I  kept  his  sayings  V  And  with 
emphasis  and  an  earnest  expression,  he  exclaimed,  'I 
bless  the  Lord,  that  through  his  grace  I  can  say, 
Yes ;  that  I  have  his  commandments,  and  have  kept 
them.'  He  then  explained  the  command  to  be,  to  be- 
lieve in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  the  Lord  had 
been  pleased  to  give  him  grace  to  believe ;  adding,  '  I 
do  believe,  and  I  do  love  him ;  and  in  spite  of  much 
sin  and-weakness  and  great  unworthiness,  it  has  been 
my  endeavor,  ever  since  I  knew  the  Lord  and  receiv- 
ed his  sayings,  to  serve  him  in  simplicity  and  with 
godly  sincerity.  No  doubt  there  have  been  much 
alloy  and  many  errors,  for  I  have  no  righteousness  of 
my  own.  There  is  no  merit  in  any  of  my  works,  but 
my  trust  has  been,  and  still  is,  in  the  righteousness  of 
Christ.  I  therefore  can  say,  the  Lord  being  my  helper, 
that  I  have  his  commandments,  and  that  I  have  kept 
them.'  He  then  spoke  of  his  course  as  a  Christian 
generally,  and  of  the  remarkable  unity  of  thought  and 
action  which  had  always  subsisted  between  himself 


ROBERT'S  LAST  DAYS.  253 

and  his  brother,  both  in  doctrine  and  practice ;  add- 
ing as  his  conviction,  that  '  the  Spirit  was  given  as 
the^  Lord  saw  good  to  all-  churches,  and  that  it  was 
the  preaching  of  sound  doctrine  which  the  Lord 
blessed,  and  not  particular  systems.'  " 

"  Although  Dr.  Davidson  had  truly  expressed  the 
opinion  that  this  was  his  last  illness,  it  was  chiefly 
indicated  by  a  failure  of  strength,  and  tendency  to 
exhaustion.     During  the  course  of  the  week,  he  con- 

* -versed  for  many  hours  almost  every  day,  chiefly  with 
reference  to  the  great  spiritual  objects  in  which  he 
was  interested.  Few  of  his  friends  were  admitted  to 
see  him,  except  his  brother,  and  those  few  visits  were 
made  soon  after  he  rose  from  his  bed;  he  suffered  no 
depression  of  spirits,  but  maintained  his  usual  vivacity 
in  conversation  even  to  his  last  day.  But  most  fre- 
quently he  was  solemn  and  serious.  He  very  fre- 
quently urged  the  importance  of  studying  the  ninth 
chapter  of  the  epistle  to  the  Romans,  as  to  the  view 
it  gives  of  the  sovereignty  of  God,  saying  he  could 
not  express  the  comfort  he  derived  from  it.     We 

•  were  thus  taught  to  see  God  in  every  thing,  and  to 
trace  every  thing  to  God — to  see  his  almighty  hand, 
even  in  our  mistakes,  as  well  as  in  our  successes;  in 
our  adversity,  as  well  as  in  our  prosperity.  It  is  our 
wisdom,  therefore,  to  commit  ourselves  and  our  con- 
cerns to  his  supreme  guidance,  to  seek  to  do  his  will, 
and  to  be  conformed  to  it.  He  recommended  the 
study  of  his  exposition  of  that  chapter,  as  exhibiting 

.  the  only  solid  ground  on  which  right  views  of  the 
gospel  can  rest,  and  as  adapted  to  afford  the  greatest 


254  THE  HALDANES. 

practical  comfort  to  all,  who,  as  little  children,  will 
cast  themselves  in  conscious  helplessness  on  the  al- 
mighty sovereign  power  of  God.  In  speaking  of  a 
special  providence,  he  said  he  rather  objected  to  the 
word  '  special,^  as  it  seemed  to  overlook  the  fact  that 
every  thing  is  ordered  of  God,  great  as  well  as  small. 

"In  the  same  month,  the  Eev.  James  O'Hara  of 
Coleraine  had  an  interview  with  Robert  Haldane, 
who  says,  *  I  believe  I  was  the  last  person,  not  of  his 
own  immediate  family,  who  had  the  privilege  of  spend- 
ing an  evening  with  him.  He  spoke  for  more  than  an 
hour,  chiefly  on  regeneration  by  the  word,  as  totally 
distinct  from  the  office  of  baptism,  and  I  was  much 
struck  with  the  clearness  and  arrangement  with  which 
he  handled  the  subject,  more  as  if  he  was  reading  from 
something  which  he  had  studied,  and  committed  to 
paper,  than  giving  expression  to  passing  thoughts.  I 
had  often  read  of  the  bright  views  of  Christians  when 
on  the  eve  of  their  departure,  but  never  before  had 
seen  an  instance  such  as  was  the  case  with  him ; 
and  I  left  the  house  with  reverence  in  my  mind,  and 
Balaam^s  prayer  on  my  lips,  as  he  evidently  had  but 
few  days  to  pass  on  earth.  It  was  a  scene  which 
has  often  recurred  to  me,  and  one  which  I  never  can 
forget.' " 

At  the  close  of  November,  it  was  evident  to  those 
around  him  that  the  last  scene  was  fast  approaching. 
His  biographer  says,  "His  medical  attendants  had 
given  it  as  their  opinion  that  he  could  not  survive 
many  days.  On  feeling  that  the  hand  of  death  was 
upon  him,  he  sent  for  me  to  come  to  him,  as  he  par- 


ROBERT'S  LAST  DAYS.  255 

ticularly  wished  to  see  me;  and  he  fixed  an  hour 
when  he  was  not  likely  to  be  interrupted  by  the  visit 
of  his  physician.  So  anxious  was  he  for  this  inter- 
view, that  he  was  the  first  to  hear  me  ring  the  bell, 
and  he  desired  his  head  to  be  raised  on  his  pillow, 
that  he  might  converse  more  easily.  He  then  ex- 
pressed a  wish  that  all  should  leave  the  room ;  and 
he  told  me  to  sit  as  near  to  him  as  I  could.  I  shall 
never,  so  long  as  I  live,  forget  the  conversation,  which 
lasted  for  above  an  hour.  Though  I  had  known  him 
intimately  from  my  infancy,  I  was  never  so  much 
struck  as  on  this  occasion  with  the  masculine  vigor 
and  indomitable  firmness  of  his  character.  He  told 
me  that  the  event  which  he  had  long  expected  was 
now  at  hand,  and  that  in  a  few  hours  he  would  prob- 
ably be  summoned  before  the  tribunal  of  God,  the 
Judge  of  all.  He  was  as  composed  as  I  ever  recollect 
seeing  him,  and  did  not  display  the  slightest  emotion. 
He  told  me  that  he  viewed  the  approach  of  the  last 
enemy  without  dismay — that  he  died  in  the  faith,  pos- 
sessing the  peace  of  God,  and  in  the  full  assurance  of 
understanding.  He  added, '  You  cannot  conceive  the 
comfort  I  possess ;  and  I  trust  that,  when  placed  in 
the  same  situation,  you  will  enjoy  the  like  blessed 
hope.'  He  exclaimed,  *  I  have  fought  a  good  fight.' 
etc. ;  and  in  the  most  deliberate  manner  repeated  the 
whole  passage,  laying  particular  emphasis  on  the 
words,  'Not  for  me  only,  but  for  all  who  love  his 
appearing.'  He  remarked,  that,  however  praisewor- 
thy in  the  eyes  of  the  world  any  thing  he  had  done 
might  appear,  he  in  no  way  rested  on  it  as  a  ground 


256  THE  HALDANES. 

of  acceptance  in  the  sight  of  God ;  that,  on  the  con- 
trary^ he  renounced  his  good  works  as  much  as  his 
bad  ones,  and  desired  only  to  be  wrapped  in  the  robe 
of  his  Redeemer's  righteousness.  He  added,  that  he 
reposed  securely  on  the  atonement  of  his  Saviour,  and 
that  the  words  which  he  uttered  on  the  cross,  '  It  is 
finished,^  gave  him  solid  peace  and  comfort.  He  told 
me  that  he  died  in  peace  with  all  mankind,  and  he 
sent  affectionate  messages  to  those  connected  with 
him.  In  particular,  he  expressed  the  great  comfort 
and  benefit  he  had  derived  from  the  ministry  of  his 
brother,  and  felt  thankful  that  they  had  gone  on  to- 
gether hand  in  hand  for  so  many  years  in  all  their 
labors,  and  had  differed  in  nothing.  He  declared 
that  he  firmly  adhered  to  all  the  blessed  doctrines 
which  he  had  attempted  to  illustrate  in  his  writings, 
more  particularly  in  his  last  edition  of  his  Exposition 
to  the  Romans.  He  survived  sixteen  days  longer, 
during  which  time  I  saw  him  frequently,  and  so  long 
as  he  was  able  to  articulate,  he  expressed  the  same 
firm  confidence  in  the  finished  work  of  his  Redeemer." 
Eight  days  before  his  decease  he  held  another 
conversation  with  the  excellent  lady  who  for  nearly 
fifty-seven  years  had  been  his  faithful  partner,  when 
he  again  went  over  the  ground  of  his  hope,  which  he 
declared  to  be  fully  able  to  support  him.  He  once 
more  adverted  to  the  usefulness  of  his  brother's 
preaching  to  his  soul,  and  to  the  harmony  which  had 
marked  their  counsels  and  conduct,  referring  to  the 
remark  of  a  friend  respecting  them,  "There  they  are, 
the  two  brothers ;  they  have  always  dwelt  together 


ROBERT'S  DEATH.  25t 

in  unity."  He  spoke  also  of  the  principal  events  of 
his  life,  both  before  and  since  he  knew  the  Lord,  and 
said  that  he  had  been  kept  in  the  grasp  of  almighty 
love,  or  he  must  have  perished. 

After  this  he  seemed  to  prefer  being  entirely  alone, 
and  seldom  spoke  to  any  one.  On  the  night  of  the 
eleventh  of  December,  he  addressed  some  kind,  point- 
ed exhortations  to  his  attendant,  as  to  the  importance 
of  her  storing  her  memory  with  Scripture,  and  was 
also  overheard  speaking  to  himself,  as  if  in  prayer. 
The  last  words  he  was  heard  to  utter  were  several 
times,  at  intervals,  repeated:  "For  ever  with  the 
Lord" — "for  ever"^ — "for  ever."  It  appeared  as  if 
he  felt  the  prayer  he  had  so  often  uttered  in  his  fam- 
ily worship  was  about  to  be  fulfilled:  "One  thing 
have  I  desired  of  the  Lord,  and  that  will  I  seek  after, 
that  I  may  dwell  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  for  ever." 

Thus,  on  Monday  the  twelfth  of  December,  1842, 
peacefully  departed  from  earth  the  excellent  Robert 
Haldane,  in  the  seventy-ninth  year  of  his  age.  He 
was  buried  within  one  of  the  aisles  of  the  old  cathe- 
dral at  Glasgow,  not  far  from  the  spot  where,  forty- 
four  years  before,  he  stood  beside  his  friend  Rowland 
Hill,  while  the  latter  preached  to  many  thousands  of 
the  citizens  of  Glasgow.  Many  references  to  his  death 
and  character  were  made  in  the  pulpits  of  Edinburgh 
and  elsewhere,  as  well  as  in  the  boards  of  public  so- 
cieties, and  the  newspaper  and  monthly  press.  After 
alluding  to  the  events  of  his  "invaluable  life,"  and 
describing  his  tall  figure  and  impressive  bearing,  the 
"Witness"  newspaper,  conducted  by  the  late  distin- 


258  THE  HALDANES. 

guished  Hugh  Miller,  added,  "His  eye  was  little, 
black,  and  signally  penetrating.  The  general  expres- 
sion of  his  countenance  was  thoughtful,  but  bland, 
good-humored,  and  not  unfrequently  humorous ;  for 
he  was  not  only  a  profound  and  most  acute  man,  but 
was  a  kind-hearted  man,  and  could  both  make  and 
relish  a  joke.  Of  his  liberality  it  is  needless  to  speak." 
He  never  allowed  his  portrait  to  be  taken,  and  con- 
sequently no  likeness  of  him  remains  but  in  the  hearts 
of  his  friends.  His  brother's  portrait,  however,  pre- 
sents some  of  the  features  of  Robert  Haldane. 

The  reluctance  through  life  of  James  Haldane  to 
sit  for  his  portrait  was  equal  to  that  of  Robert ;  but 
an  artist  having  published  an  incorrect  one,  surrepti- 
tiously taken  while  he  was  preaching,  his  family,  at 
seventy-six,  prevailed  on  him  to  allow  a  paintiug,  from 
which  was  engraved  the  frontispiece  to  this  volume. 

Exactly  six  months  after  her  husband's  death,  the 
remains  of  his  endeared  companion  for  fifty-seven 
years  were  laid  with  his  in  the  same  vault.  It  is  no 
small  praise  to  say  of  her  that  "  her  heart  trusted  in 
her  husband,"  and  that  she  cordially  cooperated  with 
him  in  all  his  varied  plans  of  usefulness  ;  and  though 
of  a  disposition  neither  ardent  nor  imaginative,  had 
concurred  with  him  alike  in  the  proposed  mission  to 
India,  the  sale  of  Airthrey,  and  the  extension  of  the 
gospel  at  home,  in  Switzerland,  and  in  France.  He 
sought  her  counsel,  and  was  favored  with  her  prayers 
in  all  that  he  did.  They  "  were  lovely  and  pleasant 
in  their  lives,  and  in  their  death  they  were  not  di- 
vided." 


JAMES'  LATER  YEARS.         259 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE   LATER   TEARS   OF  JAMES    HALDANE,  TILL 
HIS  DECEASE. 

1842  TO  1851. 

Robert  Haldane  had  now  finished  his  course,  but 
more  than  eight  years  of  active  usefulness  still  sepa- 
rated his  brother  from  the  haven  of  rest.  Though 
his  strength  long  seemed  to  triumph  over  age,  fre- 
quent attacks  of  gout  reminded  him  that  "  the  clouds 
return  after  the  rain."  In  a  letter  he  wrote  at  sev- 
enty-five, he  says;  "  As  to  exertion  and  fatigue,  you 
greatly  overrate  my  labors,  as  I  do  not  feel  more  fa- 
tigued on  the  Lord's-day  evening  than  on  other  days. 
If  ever  I  find,  as  it  is  likely  should  I  live  a  little 
longer,  that  my  work  is  too  great,  I  will  give  up  the 
Lord's-day  evening  service.  At  present  this  is  not 
necessary." 

In  a  letter  written  about  this  time,  James  Hal- 
dane mentioned  an  anecdote  of  no  small  practical 
value.  "  I  heard  lately  of  a  woman  in  the  Highlands 
who  had  been  very  ill.  A  friend  visited  her,  to  whom 
she  said, '  I  thought  our  next  meeting  would  have  been 
before  the  throne,  but  either  I  am  not  meet  for  that 
blessed  place,  or  my  Father  has  something  more  for 
me  to  do.'  '  Well,  which,  think  you,  is  the  true  rea- 
son?' 'Why,  to  tell  you  the  truth,  I  believe  it  is  the 
last ;  for  when  I  think  of  the  glory  of  the  Redeem- 
er's righteousness,  in  which  I  shall  stand  before  God, 


260  THE  HALDANES. 

it  seems  so  complete  that  I  have  no  fear  of  my  ac- 
ceptance. I  went  to  my  neighbors  on  my  recovery, 
and  told  them  I  was  sent  back  to  them  from  the  dead ; 
and  some  were  much  affected,  and  I  have  reason  to 
believe  that  one  is  seeking  the  way  to  Zion/  " 

In  the  summer  of  1843,  James  Haldane  was  in- 
duced, on  account  of  his  gout,  to  repair  to  the  waters 
at  Buxton.  He  went  to  London  by  sea,  and  remained 
for  some  time  at  the  hospitable  mansion  of  his  rela- 
tive Mr.  Hardcastle,  situated  at  Hatcham,  near  the 
English  metropolis.  During  this  visit  he  was  able  to 
take  long  walks  with  very  little  fatigue.  Greenwich 
Hospital  was  now  with  him  a  favorite  object,  and,  in 
company  with  some  of  his  grandchildren,  he  fre- 
quently visited  it,  and  took  special  pleasure  in  seeing 
the  old  sailors  in  their  magnificent  asylum,  and  in 
watching  the  shipping  on  the  river  Thames.  From 
London  he  proceeded  to  Buxton,  where  also  he  took 
long  walks  on  the  week-days,  and  preached  twice  on 
every  Lord's  day  with  great  power  to  good  congre- 
gations. He  returned  home  in  improved  health  about 
the  middle  of  October. 

Scarcely,  however,  had  he  arrived  in  Edinburgh, 
when  the  illness  of  his  beloved  eldest  daughter,  who 
remained  with  her  brother,  recalled  him  to  Hatcham. 
She  had  been  in  bad  health  for  many  years,  but  no 
apprehensions  had  been  entertained  of  an  immedi- 
ate fatal  issue.  She  was  removed  home,  -ivhere  she 
lingered,  without  much  suffering,  till  the  twentieth  of 
December  following.  On  the  evening  preceding  her 
decease,  her  father  wrote,  "If  you  come  this  week,  I 


JAMES'  DAUGHTER'S  DEATH.      261 

hope  you  will  see  her  alive.  I  had  never  spoken 
about  my  thoughts  of  her  danger  till  yesterday.  I 
had  no  doubt  of  her  union  with  Christ,  and  confi- 
dently expected  that  he  would  lead  her  to  speak  on 
the  subject.  When  alone  with  her,  she  asked  me 
whether  I  thought  the  disease  was  advancing  rap- 
idly. I  told  her  I  did,  and  that  she  must  have  seen 
from  the  beginning  that  I  had  no  hope  of  her  recov- 
ery. She  said  she  knew  this,  and  was  looking  to 
Jesus  as  her  only  hope;  that  she  had  known  the 
Lord,  and  felt  secure  in  his  love." 

In  the  same  letter,  at  a  later  hour,  he  wrote,  "  Dear 
Elizabeth  is  very  weak.  Whether  she  will  rally  is  at 
present  doubtful ;  she  has  expressed  the  hope  that  she 
may  live  to  see  you  once  more,  but  was  afraid  that 
she  would  not  be  able  to  speak  to  you  when  you  came. 
Her  mind  is  quite  comfortable.  She  said  to  me  when 
I  was  speaking  to  her  a  little  while  ago,  that  she  had 
got  the  wish  for  which  she  had  prayed  on  the  even- 
ing of  her  mother's  death,  that  she  might  go  before 
me,  and  not  see  me  die.  I  reminded  her  of  Jordan 
being  dried  up  when  the  feet  of  the  priests  touched 
the  water,  so  that  Israel  passed  through  dry-shod ;  and 
so  the  empty  grave  of  Jesus  stands  at  the  entrance  of 
the  dark  valley,  the  pledge  of  death  being  swallowed 
up  in  victory."  't^ ' 

We  may  here  be  permitted  to  introduce  an  extract 
from  a  letter  written  by  James  Haldane  nearly  two 
years  after  the  event  to  which  we  have  just  referred, 
on  the  occasion  of  the  death  of  Miss  Hardcastle,  the 
early  friend  of  his  departed  daughter,  and  the  only 


262  THE  HALDANES. 

surviving  sister  of  his  daughter-in-law.     It  presents 
important  truths  in  a  very  striking  way : 

"  I  have  just  received  Alexander's  letter  inform- 
ing us  of  the  removal  of  dear  Selina.  It  was  very 
unexpected,  though  the  state  of  her  health  for  so  long 
a  time  rendered  it  an  event  which  might  reasonably 
be  looked  for.  I  wrote  to  her  on  Monday,  and  my 
letter  would  arrive  a  few  hours  after  her  departure. 
Many  years  ago  Selina  and  Elizabeth  were  together 
at  Hatcham,  and  I  did  not  then  anticipate  that,  tliough 
so  much  older,  I  should  survive  them  both.  But  the 
path  of  death  is  to  be  trodden  by  all,  and  it  is  to 
believers  the  porch  of  eternal  life.  It  has  been  called 
by  a  heathen,  the  birthday  of  eternity.  The  life  of  all 
his  posterity  was  committed  to  Adam,  and  he  for- 
feited it ;  but  the  life  of  the  believer  is  hid  with  Christ 
in  God,  and  the  second  Adam  has  said,  'Because  1 
live,  ye  shall  live  also.'  In  him,  their  glorious  Head, 
they  suffered  the  penalty  of  their  guilt.  The  trium- 
phant shout,  'It  is  finished,'  was  reechoed  from  the 
everlasting  hills,  when  Jesus  was  raised  from  the  dead 
by  the  glory  of  the  Father,  and  justice  and  mercy 
united  in  rolling  away  the  stone,  that  the  Prince  of 
life,  the  head  of  the  new  creation,  might  come  forth 
from  the  sepulchre  in  which  he  was  laid,  when  he 
bore  the  sins  of  his  people  in  his  own  body  on  the 
tree.  We  are  not  called  to  sorrow  for  dear  Selina 
as  those  who  have  no  hope.  She  has,  I  doubt  not, 
slept  in  Jesus,  and  joined  the  spirits  of  the  just  made 
perfect,  and  we  must  all  shortly  follow.  The  more 
we  are  freed  from  self-righteousness,  the  more  we 


JAMES,  FRUIT  IN  OLD  AGE.  263 

look  to  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  the  more  comfort 
we  shall  enjoy." 

James  Haldane^s  public  engagements  were  still 
discharged  without  intermission,  and  the  time  which 
he  devoted  to  correspondence  with  the  Highland 
preachers  itinerating  for  the  Baptist  Home  Mission- 
ary Society,  indicated  that  the  spirit  which  animated 
his  early  labors  was  unabated.  For  many  years  the 
preachers  were  accustomed  to  consult  him  in  every 
difficulty,  and  to  receive  from  him  directions  as  to 
their  spheres  of  duty.  To  the  energetic  vigilance 
with  which  he  watched  over  the  appointment  of  these 
forty  ministers,  to  the  prayerful  wisdom  with  which 
he  directed  their  movements,  to  the  combined  firm- 
ness and  gentleness  with  which  he  counselled,  admon- 
ished, or,  if  needful,  rebuked,  may  be  traced,  under 
God,  much  of  the  fruit  which  sprang  from  their  exer- 
tions. 

This  chapter  has  thus  conducted  us  over  six  years 
of  the  life  of  James  Haldane  after  his  brother's  de- 
cease. It  shows  him  as  bringing  forth  fruit  in  old 
age,  and  up  to  the  period  of  fourscore  laboring  with 
undiminished  zeal  for  the  glory  of  God  in  the  sal- 
vation of  sinners.  Were  it  possible  to  portray  the 
attractiveness  and  excellence  of  his  domestic  and 
private  life,  to  exhibit  the  closeness  of  his  walk  with 
God,  and  the  calm  sunshine  of  spiritual  peace  which 
possessed  his  soul,  we  should  understand  something 
of  the  practical  and  sanctifying  influence  of  the  doc- 
trines for  which  he  so  long  and  earnestly  contended. 
His  letters  are,  perhaps,  the  best  memorials  of  that 


264  THE  HALDANES. 

simple  faith,  that  deep  experience,  that  settled  peace 
and  assurance,  which  cheered  and  irradiated  the  sun- 
set of  his  long  and  arduous  career.  '~    . 

Our  limits  forbid  the  insertion  of  much  of  his  cor- 
respondence, but  we  will  give  an  extract  of  a  letter 
written  on  the  sudden  death  of  the  second  son  of  his 
old  and  highly  valued  friend  Mr.  Hardcastle : 

"When  I  saw  the  outside  of  your  letter,  I  too 
surely  anticipated  the  melancholy  tidings  which  it 
contained.  But  why  should  I  say  melancholy  ?  An 
heir  of  God  and  a  joint-heir  of  Christ  has  finished  his 
appointed  course  of  trial  and  of  disappointment,  and 
has  entered  into  the  joy  of  his  Lord.  Since  he  was 
called  by  grace,  he  has  had  fellowship  with  Jesus  in 
the  troubles  of  life,  and  now  the  last  scene  of  his  fel- 
lowship with  his  suffering  Saviour  is  safely  ended,  and 
he  has  departed  to  be  with  Christ,  which  is  far  better. 
With  what  different  eyes  does  he  now  regard  all  that 
is  in  the  world,  and  with  what  gratitude  to  Him  who 
bought  him  with  his  blood,  does  he  look  forward  to 
an  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory.  His  lot 
in  this  -jyorld  was  smooth  and  prosperous,  but  he  now 
looks  back  upon  all  external  circumstances  as  less 
than  nothing  and  vanity,  except  as  they  bore  upon 
that  unchanging  state  into  which  he  has  entered. 
And  yet  his  happiness  is  still  incomplete :  Satan  is 
not  yet  buried  under  his  feet,  for  he  still  retains  the 
mortal  body  in  the  prison  of  the  grave  ;  but  the  res- 
urrection of  Jesus  is  the  sure  pledge  of  the  reunion  of 
soul  and  body,  not  in  dishonor,  as  being  doomed  to 
separation — ^not  in  weakness,  as  being  subject  to  pain 


JAMES,  LETTER  TO  MR.  HARDCASTLE.     2^5 

and  dissolution — ^not  a  natural  body,  as  being  derived 
from  the  first  man,  who  was  of  the  earth,  earthy ;  but 
a  glorious,  a  spiritual  body,  of  which  the  glorious 
body  of  the  second  Man,  the  Lord  from  heaven,  is  the 
pattern.  The  Lord  said  to  his  apostles,  'Ye  are  they 
which  have  continued  with  me  in  my  temptations,  and 
I  will  appoint  unto  you  a  kingdom,  as  my  Father  hath 
appointed  unto  me.'  In  this  there  was  something 
peculiar  to  them  as  the  chosen  ambassadors  of  Christ, 
the  twelve  foundations  of  his  church,  as  resting  upon 
him,  the  chief  corner-stone.  They  were,  as  they  now 
do,  to  sit  upon  twelve  thrones,  judging  the  twelve 
tribes  of  Israel ;  but  all  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord  are 
made  kings  and  priests  unto  God,  and  they  shall  reign 
for  ever  and  ever.  And  shall  we  say,  when  one  of 
them  has  entered  the  haven  of  rest,  that  it  is  melan- 
choly ?  It  is  so,  indeed,  in  reference  to  survivors ;  it 
is  the  parting  of  the  closest  and  most  endearing  ties 
which  God  himself  hath  appointed.  He  himself  calls 
us  by  such  a  dispensation  to  weeping  and  mourning, 
but  we  are  not  to  sorrow  as  those  who  have  no  hope. 
It  is  one  of  those  scenes  of  tribulation  calculated  to 
bring  sin  to  remembrance,  to  tell  us  what  an  evil  and 
bitter  thing  sin  is.  God  adopts  a  child  of  Adam  into 
his  family;  he  loved  him  with  an  everlasting  love, 
but  there  was  about  him  that  bitter  thing  which  God's 
soul  hateth,  and  he  changed  his  countenance  and  sent 
him  away,  apparently  in  anger,  although  he  was  paci- 
fied towards  him  for  all  that  he  had  done.  God's 
word  took  hold  on  him:  'Dust  thou  art,  and  unto 
dust  shalt  thou  return.'  ^ 

Haldanea.  12 


26G  THE  HALDANES. 

"All  this  is  very  wonderful,  but  it  is  the  conse- 
quence of  something  still  more  inconceivable  and  stu- 
pendous.    The  only  begotten  Son,  who  was  holy  asf*^ 
God  is  holy,  appeared  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh, 
as  the  head  of  his  body  the  Church.     He  had  under- 
taken to  restore  what  he  took  not  away.     After  liv- 
ing years,  as  a  man  of  sorrows,  in  the  world  which 
he  had  called  into  existence,  without  having  anywhere 
to  lay  his  head,  justice,  in  the  persons  of  the  officers 
sent  to  apprehend  him,  demanded  its  victim.     He 
instantly  responded  to  the  call,  adding,  'If  ye  seek 
me,  let  these  go  their  way ;'  and  then  he  underwent 
that  bitter  trial  which  wrung  from  him  the  awful 
words,  'My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken 
me  V    The  sword  had  awaked  against  him  who  was 
the  fellow,  or  equal  of  the  Almighty — against  him 
who  *  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God,' 
and  who,  at  this  time,  was  at  once  yielding  the  most 
humble  obedience  to  his  Father's  will,  and  exercising 
one  of  the  special  prerogatives  of  the  eternal  God. 
He  had  received  a  commandment  from  his  Father  to 
lay  down  his  life,  and  he  did  it  voluntarily.    No  man 
took  it  from  him.     Well  may  we  say,  '  Oh  the  depth 
of  the  riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of 
God!  how  unsearchable  are  his  judgments,  and  his      ■ 
ways  past  finding  out!'    In  God's  dealings  with  his 
church,  the   principalities   and  powers  in  heavenly 
places  see  his  manifold  wisdom.    It  is  a  passage  in 
the  history  of  the  universe  which  they  will  never  tire 
of  perusing ;  it  is  a  depth  which  they  shall  never  be 
able  fully  to  comprehend." 


JAMES,  FRUIT  IN  OLD  AGE.  267 

The  undimmed  eye,  the  unclouded  intellect  of 
James  Haldane,  even  to  very  old  age,  were  truly  re- 
markable. At  more  than  eighty  he  preached  with 
unabated  force,  and  only  relinquished  his  evening 
services  at  the  entreaties  of  his  family,  that  he  might 
not  be  exposed  to  the  night  air  when  heated  by  speak- 
ing. On  July  17,  1848,  he  wrote  to  his  daughter-in- 
law,  "  Many  thanks  for  your  very  kind  letter,  writ- 
ten on  my  birthday,  when  I  entered  my  eighty-first 
year.  I  have  great  cause  of  gratitude  to  the  Lord 
for  the  enjoyment  of  so  good  health  at  such  an  ad- 
vanced age.  In  regard  to  preaching,  I  do  not  feel 
any  perceptible  difference,  but  the  earthly  tabernacle 
must  be  dissolved.  We  must  have  fellowship  with 
Christ  in  his  death,  that  we  may  attain  to  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead." 

It  will  have  been  already  seen  that  James  Hal- 
dane was  emphatically  a  man  of  prayer.  Like  very 
many  other  Christians  of  former  years,  he  practically 
regarded  the  duty  of  fasting,  not  only  on  public,  but 
on  many  private  occasions  ;  so  that  when  any  subject 
presented  itself  on  which  he  specially  desired  divine 
counsel,  he  would  set  apart  a  day  for  the  solemn  pur- 
pose of  humbling  himself  before  the  Lord,  and  making 
known  his  requests  on  behalf  of  himself,  his  family, 
or  the  church.  •  - 

His  Christian  activity  was  constantly  called  into 
exercise,  even  when  age  and  friendship  seemed  to  call 
for  rest.  In  the  summer  of  1847,  he  took  the  house 
called  La  Mancha,  in  Selkirkshire,  about  sixteen  miles 
from  Edinburgh,  in  a  thinly  peopled  district,  favor- 


268  THE  HALDANES. 

able  for  health,  but  having  no  place  of  worship  with- 
in four  miles.  Here  he  preached  twice  every  Lord's 
day,  and  at  other  times,  to  good  congregations,  and 
with  happy  success.  Here  and  elsewhere  during  the 
summer  and  autumn,  he  was  "in  labors  more  abun- 
dant," even  when  disease  sorely  threatened  to  make 
labor  impossible. 

On  February  3,  1849,  James  Haldane  completed 
the  fiftieth  year  of  his  pastoral  office,  and  a  wish  very 
generally  prevailed  that  this  event  should  be  cele- 
brated in  such  a  way  as  to  indicate  the  respect  in 
which  he  was  held,  not  only  by  his  own  church,  but 
by  others.  The  proposal  was  gratifying  to  him,  and 
such  a  meeting  was  appointed  for  the  twelfth  of  the 
following  April.  Five  speakers  occupied  the  atten- 
tion of  the  meeting,  four  of  whom  have  since  been 
called  to  their  rest.  The  late  venerable  Dr.  Innes, 
for  more  than  half  a  century  one  of  the  happy  asso- 
ciates of  the  Haldanes  in  their  Christian  work,  pre- 
sided, and  opened  the  meeting  by  a  reference  to  the 
labors  and  services  both  of  James  Haldane  and  of 
his  brother  Robert.  Of  the  latter  he  said,  "  When  I 
look  to  the  extensive  scale  on  which  Mr.  Haldane 
carried  on  his  plans  of  usefulness,  the  number  of 
preachers  he  educated,  the  important  situations  in 
which  some  of  these  have  been  placed,  while  others 
have  been  equally  devoted  in  a  more  limited  sphere ; 
and  when  to  these  I  add  the  numerous  places  of  wor- 
ship built  by  him  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  if 
I  were  asked  to  name  the  individual  who  has  during 
the  last  half  centnry  done  most  for  the  cause  of  the 


JAMES,  FIFTIETH  ANNIVERSARY.  269 

gospel,  I  would  without  hesitation  pronounce  the 
name  of  Robert  Haldane." 

♦  The  late  excellent  Christopher  Anderson  gave  a 

most  interesting  account  of  the  spirit  which  pervaded 
the  great  movement  at  the  end  of  the  last  century 
and  the  beginning  of  the  present,  and  which  issued  in 
a  revival  of  religion  in  Scotland  so  striking  and  so 
enduring.  The  late  Rev.  Mr.  Kinniburgh  spoke  of 
the  character  and  success  of  James  Haldane's  preach- 
ing in  that  great  work,  borrowing  the  language  of  an 
eye-witness: 

"  Mr.  Haldane's  congregations,  though  in  the  time 
of  harvest,  were  numerous,  but  on  the  Lord's  day 
such  congregations  were  never  seen  in  this  place. 
Many  have  spoken  to  me  of  the  effects  of  the  word, 
but  they  have  always  wanted  words  fully  to  express 
them.  Some  have  compared  its  operation  to  that  of 
an  electric  shock.  A  solemn  silence  pervaded  the 
multitude.     Many  were  seen  to  shed  tears,  and  when 

■f_  some  truths  were  expressed,  sighs  were  heard  through- 
out the  congregation.     Some  have  told  me  there  was 

r  an  astonishing  authority,  and  a  sort  of  indescribable 
evidence  attending  the  word,  which  they  could  not 
resist.  The  word  of  God  was  truly  quick  and  power- 
ful. I  have  been  informed  by  others  that  they  heard 
Mr.  James  Haldane  as  if  he  had  been  a  messenger 
sent  immediately  from  God,  and  thought  that  what 
they  heard  was  addressed  to  them  individually,  and 
that  they  were  sometimes  afraid  lest  their  very  names 
should  be  mentioned.  In  short,  the  attention  of 
almost  every  one  was  drawn  to  what  they  called  this 


270  THE  HALDANES. 

gospel.  It  was  indeed  new  to  most  who  heard  it, 
both  as  to  the  matter  and  the  manner  of  delivering 
it.  So  generally  was  the  attention  of  people  drawn 
to  it,  that  you  could  hardly  find  two  conversing 
together  but  religion  was  the  subject." 

The  late  Rev.  John  Watson,  of  whom  we  have 
already  more  than  once  spoken,  gave  an  interesting 
detail  of  his  reminiscences  of  the  preaching  in  Ayr- 
shire. 

James  Haldane  also  himself  spoke  with  his  usual 
manly  simplicity,  in  a  manner  which  evinced  the  faith 
and  love  and  zeal  which  animated  his  exertions. 
Among  other  things  he  said,  "  I  feel  much  satisfaction 
in  the  consideration,  that  though  I  began  to  preach 
shortly  after  being  brought  to  Christ,  I  do  not  know 
one  point  in  which  my  views  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
gospel  have  varied.  They  are,  of  course,  more  ma- 
tured and  more  distinct,  but  I  could  not  point  out 
an  instance  of  a  change  in  doctrine  since  I  began  to 
preach." 

The  meeting  presented  the  happy  scene  of  evan- 
gelical union,  where  Baptists  and  Independents,  Free- 
churchmen  and  ministers  of  the  Establishment,  assem- 
bled to  give  thanks  to  God  for  the  Christian  devoted- 
ness  with  which  James  Haldane  had  been  through 
grace  enabled,  for  nearly  fifty-two  years,  to  labor 
with  consistent  zeal  in  the  service  of  their  common 
Lord  and  Master.  -;  ....r<   ..    :   :     : 

For  nearly  two  years  after  this  pleasant  service, 
James  Haldane  was  so  far  favored  with  health,  that 
he  continued  to  preach,  to  visit  the  sick,  and  to  take 


JAMES,  LAST  SICKNESS.  2T1 

many  of  his  accustomed  walks;  but  gradually  the 
tone  alike  of  his  preaching  and  correspondence  indi- 
cated that  the  time  of  his  departure  drew  near ;  but 
his  spirit  was  that  of  cheerful  piety,  nor  had  he  any 
gloomy  forebodings  as  to  the  approach  of  the  king  of 
terrors.  His  own  words,  as  taken  from  his  lips  dur- 
ing the  delivery  of  one  of  his  sermons,  show  his  feel- 
ings: "'I  am  crucified  with  Christ.'  I  died  in  his 
death.  I  rise  in  his  resurrection.  '  I  live,  yet  not  I ; 
Christ  liveth  in  me.'  Not  I,  a  poor  wretched  rebel, 
whose  foundation  is  in  the  dust,  who  dwell  in  a  cot- 
tage of  clay.  It  is  I,  the  disciple  of  Christ,  the  mem- 
ber of  Christ's  body,  who  look  forward  to  the  glo- 
rious inheritance,  incorruptible  and  undefiled,  and 
which  fadeth  not  away,  when  this  vile  body  shall  be 
fashioned  like  unto  Christ's  glorious  body,  when  I 
shall  have  done  with  sin,  with  sorrow,  with  every 
thing  that  can  interrupt  my  communion  with  Christ, 
and  when,  beyond  the  utmost  bounds  of  the  ever- 
lasting hills,  I  g'jall  lay  my  crown  at  his  feet,  sing- 
ing the  song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb,  Unto  Him 
that  loved  me,  and  washed  me  from  my  sins  in  his 
own  blood,  unto  him  be  glory  both  now  and  for  ever. 
Amen." 

Another  attack  of  the  gout,  the  only  complaint  to 
which  he  was  ever  subject,  became  perceptible  at  the 
end  of  January,  1851,  which  increased,  so  that  on  the 
following  Lord's  day  he  was  unable  to  leave  the 
house.  On  Thursday,  February  4,  although  suffering 
much  pain,  he  was  wheeled  into  the  drawing-room, 
and  in  the  evening  prayed  as  usual  in  his  family.   The 


2T2  THE  HALDANES. 

twenty-first  chapter  of  the  Apocalypse  was  read  in 
course  by  his  youngest  son,  and  his  prayer  had  refer- 
ence to  the  bright  and  glorious  city,  with  its  streets 
of  gold,  its  walls  of  jasper,  and  its  gates  of  pearl. 
He  seemed  about  to  close,  when,  as  if  unable  to  let 
go  his  hold,  he  again  began  and  prayed  most  fer- 
vently that  all  his  family,  his  children,  and  his  chil- 
dren's children,  might  meet  together  in  the  new  Jeru- 
salem, and  unite  in  the  song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb. 
It  was  not  then  thought  that  he  had  himself  entered 
the  dark  flowing  river,  and  was  about  to  enter  into 
the  joy  of  his  Lord.  But  his  prayers  were  *' ended." 
This  was  the  last  of  those  supplications,  rich  in  grace 
and  unction,  which  always  so  eminently  marked  his 
intimate  communion  with  God.  He  was  removed  to 
his  bed,  from  which  he  was  not  again  to  rise.  He 
survived  four  days,  but  after  the  prayer  to  which  we 
have  referred,  spoke  but  little. 

His  disease  extended  over  his  whole  frame ;  and, 
owing  in  part  at  least  to  the  sedatives  administered 
to  him,  he  was  usually  disposed  to  slumber.  But 
even  the  feverish  visions  of  his  sleep  were  associated 
with  ideas  of  the  necessity  of  rising  to  visit  the  sick, 
and  with  the  impression  of  the  character  he  main- 
tained in  his  household.  Occasionally  he  listened  to 
a  few  verses  from  the  Scriptures,  and  intimated  a 
brief  assent  to  the  comfort  they  breathed.  A  pas- 
sage of  Scripture  being  repeated  to  him  at  a  time 
when  it  was  uncertain  whether  he  was  able  to  listen, 
he  raised  himself  up  a  little,  and  distinctly  repeated, 
"  When  Christ,  who  is  our  life,  shall  appear,  we  also  , 


DEATH  OF  JAMES.  2t3 

shall  appear  with  him  in  glory."  On  being  asked  if 
he  felt  much  peace  and  happiness,  he  twice  repeated, 
"  Exceeding  great  and  precious  promises."  He  then 
said,  "  But  I  must  rise ;"  and  when  Mrs.  Haldane  said, 
"  You  are  not  able  to  get  up,"  he  smiled  and  replied, 
"I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake  with  his  likeness." 
She  asked,  "Is  that  what  you  meant  by  rising?"  He 
answered,  "  Yes."  During  his  waking  intervals,  he 
was  in  possession  of  every  faculty,  even  to  the  last 
day.  About  an  hour  before  his  departure,  his  devot- 
ed wife  said  to  him,  "  You  are  going  to  Jesus.    How 

J  happy  you  will  be  soon."  A  vivid  smile  lighted  up 
his  countenance  with  the  expression  of  great  joy,  as 
he  emphatically  said,  "  Oh,  yes."     In  the  presence  of 

•  his  family  he  drew  the  last  soft  breath,  and  in  an 
instant  the  shadow  of  death  passed  over  his  counte- 
nance, and  his  ransomed  spirit  passed  into  the  joy  of 
his  Lord. 

It  has  been  well  said  by  his  son,  that  the  close  of 
such  a  life  required  no  death-bed  testimony  to  the 

^  sustaining  power  of  the  gospel  which  had  been  the 
delight  of  his  heart.  No  man  had  more  fully  preach- 
ed the  freeness  of  the  gospel  message,  nor  had  any 
one  more  strongly  proclaimed  that  the  oldest  and 

^  most  favored  Christian  never  entered  heaven  but 
upon  the  same  self-abasing  terms  as  the  thief  on  the 
cross.  But  none  had  more  plainly  declared  his  belief, 
that  for  the  most  part  men  die  as  they  have  lived. 
His  own  career  had  been  for  fifty-seven  years  a  bright 
example  of  the  life  of  faith ;  and  it  was  truly  said  of 
him  by  his  venerable  friend  and  fellow-laborer  the 


274  THE  HALDANES. 

Rev.  Dr.  Innes,  in  his  funeral  sermon,  "  To  him  to 
live  was  Christ,  but  to  die  was  gain." 

The  funeral  of  James  Haldane,  which  took  place 
four  days  after  his  decease,  though  intended  to  be 
strictly  private,  drew  together  a  large  concourse  of 
the  citizens  of  Edinburgh,  who  were  anxious  to  do 
homage  to  his  character  and  worth ;  excepting  indeed 
at  the  funerals  of  Dr.  Chalmers  and  Dr.  Andrew 
Thomson,  there  has  not  been  such  an  unsolicited 
demonstration  of  public  feeling  on  any  like  occasion. 
No  man  was  less  disposed  to  court  the  applause  of 
men,  or  to  indulge  the  semblance  of  ostentation ;  but 
such  was  the  public  feeling,  that  besides  the  mourn- 
ing coaches,  containing  the  members  of  his  family  and 
his  private  friends,  there  were  not  less  than  six  hun- 
dred ministers,  elders,  and  private  members  of  the 
different  religious  communities  in  Edinburgh. 

Many  little  incidents  indicated  the  reverence  and 
love  in  which  he  was  held.  One  aged  brother  of  his 
own  church  had  placed  himself  with  the  rest  of  the 
members  in  advance  of  the  hearse,  but  on  account  of 
his  age  was  urged  to  take  a  seat  in  one  of  the  mourn- 
ing coaches.  He  declined,  alleging  that  his  "  proper 
place  was  at  the  feet  of  his  pastor."  On  the  Lord's 
day  succeeding  his  departure,  honorable  reference  was 
made  to  his  removal  in  many  of  the  pulpits  of  Edin- 
burgh by  clergymen  of  every  evangelical  denomina- 
tion. Nor  was  it  only  in  Scotland  that  marks  of 
respect  were  thus  paid  to  his  memory,  but  throughout 
England  and  Ireland. 

The  Rev.  Christopher  Anderson,  whose  early  rec- 


DEATH  OF  JAMES.  275 

ollections  of  his  departed  friend  enabled  him  to  sup- 
ply many  interesting  facts  of  his  power  as  a  preacher, 
showed  his  accustomed  tact  in  the  selection  of  a  text, 
testifying  that  Caleb  "  followed  the  Lord  fully,"  ad- 
mirably and  truly  applying  the  festimony  to  James 
Haldane.  Speaking  of  the  itinerant  labors  of  this 
eminent  man,  well  indeed  did  the  Rev.  Dr.  Lindsay 
Alexander,  in  his  funeral  sermon  for  his  friend,  de- 
scribe his  work  when  he  said,  "  Of  all  the  influences 
which  have  been  operating  upon  our  people  during 
the  last  half  century  just  closed,  none,  perhaps,  has 
been  more  powerful  and  extensive  in  all  its  bearings 
than  that  which  commenced  when  God  touched  the 
heart  of  James  Haldane  with  evangelical  fire,  and 
sent  him  from  secular  operations  to  the  streets  and 
highways  of  his  native  country  to  proclaim  to  his 
fellow-men  '  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ.' 

"  It  needed  such  a  man  to  accomplish  such  a  work 
as  he  had  to  undertake.  Men  educated  in  the  retire- 
ment of  colleges — men  of  timid,  sensitive,  or  delicate 
tastes  and  temperament — men  infirm  of  purpose  or 
hesitating  in  action,  would  have  been  bent  or  scat- 
tered before  the  storm  which  interest  and  prejudice, 
and  the  old  hatred  of  the  human  heart  to  all  that  is 
earnest  in  religious  life,  everywhere  stirred  up  against 
the  itinerant  preachers.  It  needed  a  man  who  had 
been  trained  up  amid  scenes  of  danger  and  of  strife, 
and  whose  spirit  was  accustomed  to  rise  with  opposi- 
tion, to  encounter  and  brave  the  tempest.  Such  a 
man  was  found  in  Mr.  James  Haldane.  The  habits 
he  had  acquired  at  sea,  in  baffling  with  the  elements 


2t6  THE  HALDANES. 

and  with  the  untamed  energy  of  rude  and  fearless 
men,  stood  him  in  good  stead  when  called  to  contend 
for  liberty  of  speech  and  worship  in  opposition  to  the 
bigoted  and  tyrannical  measures  of  those  who  would 
have  slain  the  authors  of  the  new  system.  He  was 
not  the  man  to  quail  before  priestly  intolerance  or 
magisterial  frowns.  Dignified  in  manner,  command- 
ing in  speech,  fearless  in  courage,  and  unhesitating  in 
action,  he  everywhere  met  the  rising  storm  with  the 
boldness  of  a  British  sailor,  and  the  courtesy  of  a 
British  gentleman,  combined  with  the  uprightness  and 
inoffensiveness  of  a  true  Christian.  To  the  brethren 
who  were  associated  wdth  him,  he  was  a  pillar  of 
strength  in  the  hour  of  trial ;  while,  upon  those  who 
sought  to  put  down  their  efforts  by  force  or  ridicule, 
it  is  difiicult  to  say  whether  the  manly  dignity  of  his 
bearing,  or  the  blameless  purity  of  his  conduct,  pro- 
duced the  more  powerful  effect  in  paralyzing  their 
opposition,  when  he  did  not  succeed  in  winning  their 
applause." 

A  very  few  sentences  ^s  to  the  general  character 
of  these  excellent  brothers  shall  bring  our  volume  to  a 
close.  In  the  bloom  of  manhood  a  great  moral  change 
passed  over  both  nearly  at  the  same  time,  but  with- 
out much  communication  with  each  other.  It  had  in 
it  nothing  sudden,  enthusiastic,  or  which  appeared  ex- 
traordinary. It  was  produced  by  the  calm  and  can- 
did investigation  of  the  lofty  claims  of  that  holy  book 
which  they  had  previously  called  the  word  of  God, 
from  the  influence  of  education  rather  than  from  the 


SUMMARY  OF  THEIR  CHARACTER.    2^ 

force  of  conviction.  But  when,  by  the  teaching  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  the  truth  found  entrance  into  their  hearts, 
they  felt  it  to  be  the  word  and  work  of  God;  they 
discovered  also  the  grandeur  of  the  gospel,  and  faith 
in  Christ  became  a  living  and  energizing  principle. 
Christianity  now  became  a  divine  reality,  exalting  all 
their  faculties,  and  they  devoted  their  lives  to  the 
service  of  God  in  a  way  which  they  who  never  knew 
the  truth  might  naturally  call  enthusiasm.  Upon 
their  principles,  and  with  their  convictions,  it  was 
"  a  reasonable  service "  to  surrender  themselves  unto 
Him  who  had  "  washed  them  in  his  blood ;"  and  as 
these  principles  became  more  firmly  settled,  and  these 
convictions  strengthened  by  communion  with  God, 
and  the  study  of  his  word,  the  first  impulses  of  youth- 
ful earnestness  were  approved  by  the  gravity  of  ma- 
ture age.  They  held  fast  "the  beginning  of  their 
confidence  steadfast  to  the  end."  This  was  the  secret 
of  their  triumph  over  death  itself,  and  of  the  calm 
satisfaction  with  which  they  regarded  the  termination 
of  their  course. 

But  we  do  not  intend  to  write  an  eulogy.  Their 
character  is  stamped  on  their  conduct ;  and  whether 
we  look  at  the  labors  of  the  elder  brother  for  the 
revival  of  Christianity  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  or 
the  labors  of  both  in  their  native  land,  they  have  left 
the  impress  of  their  name  on  the  age  in  which  they 
lived.  Their  example  and  success,  both  at  home  and 
abroad,  is  an  encouragement  to  all  who  labor  with 
equal  boldness,  zeal,  and  prayer,  to  make  known  the 
free  grace  of  God.     From  the  moment  they  devoted 


278 


THE  HALDANES. 


their  lives  unto  the  Lord,  they  looked  not  back  to  the 
scenes  of  their  past  enjoyment.  Wealth,  honor,  and 
reputation,  were  all  counted  but  loss.  Their  single 
desire  was  wholly  to  follow  the  Lord.  The  results  of 
their  efforts  stretch  into  eternity. 


r 


)B  31172 


5-7/ ^^ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


